Flying gurnard

About this species

The flying gurnard, also known as the helmet gurnard, is a species of Syngnathiformes fish belonging to the family Dactylopteridae. It is a bottom-dwelling fish that inhabits tropical to warm temperate waters on both sides of the Atlantic.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Flying gurnard”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 91 records
February: 66 records
March: 78 records
April: 127 records
May: 117 records
June: 158 records
July: 288 records
August: 300 records
September: 195 records
October: 133 records
November: 85 records
December: 51 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 7–52 m · Deepest record: 183 m

0–10 m: 69 records
10–20 m: 126 records
20–30 m: 22 records
30–40 m: 19 records
40–50 m: 10 records
50–60 m: 8 records
60–70 m: 11 records
70–80 m: 3 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 7–28 °C

6–8 °C: 3 records
8–10 °C: 6 records
10–12 °C: 1 records
12–14 °C: 4 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 2 records
18–20 °C: 10 records
20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 73 records
24–26 °C: 10 records
26–28 °C: 21 records
28–30 °C: 4 records

Photos

(c) Lucas Rubio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Golfopolikayak, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Donald Davesne, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Seba Fernández, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim Johnson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Diogo Luiz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Leo Lagos, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Flying gurnard, Batfish, Flying Gurdnard, flying gurnard, Flying Gurnard, Helmet Gurnard

Names in 5 more languages

German: Flughahn
Spanish: Alon, Alón, alón volador, Chichara, Gavilan, Golondrina, pez murciélago, Pez Volador, Volador
French: Alón Volador, dactyloptère, Exocet, Faux Poisson Volant, grondin volant, Grondin volant, Hirondelle, Poisson Volant, Poule de Mer
Japanese: ニシセミホウボウ
Simplified Chinese: 離棘真豹魴鮄

Other scientific names: Callionymus pelagicus, Cephalacanthus spinarella, Cephalacanthus volitans, Dactilopterus volitans, Dactylopterus blochii, Dactylopterus communis, Dactylopterus fasciatus, Dactylopterus occidentalis, Dactylopterus spinarella, Dactylopterus tentaculatus, Dactylopterus vulgaris, Gasterosteus spinarella, Gonocephalus macrocephalus, Polynemus sexradiatus, Trigla fasciata, Trigla volitans

Similar species

Oriental flying gurnard
Dactyloptena orientalis
Dactyloptena macracantha
Butterfly Engloute
Dactyloptena papilio
Flathead Helmet Gurnard
Dactyloptena gilberti
Starry flying gurnard
Dactyloptena peterseni
Plain Helmet Gurnard
Dactyloptena tiltoni

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
1,245 open-data records from 1906 to 2022.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.