Dactylopteridae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Ordo: Syngnathiformes
Subordo: Dactylopteroidei

Familia: Dactylopteridae
Genera: Dactyloptena - Dactylopterus
Name

Dactylopteridae
Vernacular names
čeština: Letuchovití
English: Flying gurnards
日本語: セミホウボウ科
中文: 飛角魚科

The flying gurnards are a family, Dactylopteridae, of marine fish notable for their greatly enlarged pectoral fins. As they cannot literally fly or glide in the air (like flying fish), an alternative name preferred by some authors is helmet gurnards.[2] They have been regarded as the only family in the suborder Dactylopteroidei of the Scorpaeniformes but more recent molecular classifications put them in the order Syngnathiformes, in the superfamily Centriscoidea.[3]

They have been observed to "walk" along sandy sea floors while looking for crustaceans, other small invertebrates and small fish by using their pelvic fins. Like the true gurnards (sea robins), to which they may be related, they possess a swim bladder with two lobes and a "drumming muscle" that can beat against the swim bladder to produce sounds. They have heavy, protective scales and the undersides of their huge pectoral fins are brightly coloured, perhaps to startle predators.[2]

Most species are in the Indo-Pacific genus Dactyloptena, but the single member of Dactylopterus is from warmer parts of the Atlantic. The adults live on the sea bottom, but many species have an extended larval stage, which floats freely in the oceans.[2]
Taxonomy

Morphological traits uniting the flying gurnards (Dactylopteridae) and the Syngnathiformes have long been noted. Most authors placed them with the Scorpaeniformes, but DNA sequence data quite consistently support the view that the latter are paraphyletic with the Gasterosteiformes sensu lato. Flying gurnards are particularly close to the Aulostomidae (trumpetfish) and Fistulariidae (cornetfish), and would have to be included with these.[4]

See also

List of fish families

References

Bailly N, ed. (2017). "Dactylopteridae Gill, 1861". FishBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
Eschmeyer, William N. (1998). Paxton, J.R.; Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 177. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
Nelson, JS; Grande, TC & Wilson, MVH (2016). "Classification of fishes from Fishes of the World 5th Edition" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
Kawahara, Ryouka; Masaki Miya; Kohji Mabuchi; Sébastien Lavoué; Jun G. Inoue; Takashi P. Satoh; Akira Kawaguchi; Mutsumi Nishida (2008). "Interrelationships of the 11 gasterosteiform families (sticklebacks, pipefishes, and their relatives): A new perspective based on whole mitogenome sequences from 75 higher teleosts". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 46 (1): 224–236. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.07.009. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 17709262.