| Flying gurnard | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Scorpaeniformes |
| Family: | Dactylopteridae |
| Genus: | Dactylopterus Lacépède, 1801 |
| Species: | D. volitans |
| Binomial name | |
| Dactylopterus volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Callionymus pelagicus Rafinesque, 1818 |
|
The flying gurnard, Dactylopterus volitans, is a fish of tropical to warm temperate waters on both sides of the Atlantic, found as far north as New Jersey and south as Brazil, and from the English Channel to Angola.
As of August 2009, The flying gurnard has been seen by SCUBA divers in beds of sea grass off the north coast of the Dominican Republic in less than 10 feet of water. When calm, the fish looks fairly normal, other than its odd box shape. When excited, the fish spreads its "wings", which are semi-transparent but tipped with a beautiful and phosphorescent bright blue coloration (designed to scare away predators). The prominent front portion of the "wing" is shaped much like the foot of an amphibian, which causes the fish to take on a "lizard-like" look.
The fish also has large eyes and the head is similar to species of a porcupine pufferfish.