Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Perciformes
(Perch-likes) > Callionymidae
Etymology: Callionymus: Greek, kallion, comparative of kallos = beautiful + Greek, onyma = name; with a better name . More on author: Linnaeus.
Environment / Climate / Range
Marine; demersal; depth range 5 - 430 m (Ref. 5968), usually 5 - 30 m (Ref. 27115). Temperate; 16°C - 20°C (Ref. 27115); 65°N - 16°N, 32°W - 32°E
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm 17.4  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4645); 25.0 cm TL (female); common length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397); max. reported age: 7 years (Ref. 72462)
soft rays: 9. Gill opening dorsal. Usually antrorse (forward-pointing) tip at base of preopercular spine. Rays of second dorsal unbranched except for the last, which is divided at base (Ref. 232). Snout length 2-3 times the diameter of the eye (Ref. 35388).
Eastern Atlantic: southern Iceland and Norway south to Mauritania, including the northern Mediterranean, Gibraltar, and Algeria, western Black Sea, Aegean and Adriatic Sea, Azores and the Canary Islands.
Occurs on sand and muddy bottoms from sublittoral to 200 m (Ref. 6444) and to 400 m or more (Ref. 9900). Feeds on small invertebrates, mainly worms and crustaceans. Territorial, males aggressive with each other. Complex courtship behavior consists of 4 phases: courtship, pairing, ascending, releasing eggs and milt. Pelagic eggs and larvae (Ref. 5968). Minimum depth reported from Ref. 27115. Neither opercular spine gland nor anterolateral glandular groove with venom gland is present (Ref. 57406).
Davis, W.P and R. Fricke, 1990. Callionymidae. p. 921-924. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon, SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2.
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: public aquariums
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on empirical models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01170 (0.00882 - 0.01553), b=2.79 (2.72 - 2.86), based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.3 ±0.38 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.43-0.47; tmax=6).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low to moderate vulnerability (29 of 100) .