Longtail seamouth

Pegasus volitans

Fish
IUCN: Data deficient

Usual depth6–42 m
Water temperature13–29 °C
Best monthsApril, October, and December
How commonOccasional

About this species

The longtail seamoth is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Pegasidae. It is found around the coasts of Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, Myanmar, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Tanzania, and Thailand. This fish is used in Chinese medicine and in the aquarium trade.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Longtail seamoth”, 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: 20 records
February: 18 records
March: 15 records
April: 26 records
May: 14 records
June: 8 records
July: 23 records
August: 13 records
September: 16 records
October: 35 records
November: 15 records
December: 29 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–42 m · Deepest record: 67 m

0–10 m: 11 records
10–20 m: 30 records
20–30 m: 12 records
30–40 m: 6 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 1 records
60–70 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 13–29 °C

12–14 °C: 1 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 3 records
20–22 °C: 53 records
22–24 °C: 84 records
24–26 °C: 31 records
26–28 °C: 78 records
28–30 °C: 39 records

Names and classification

English: Longtail seamouth, Long-tailed Dragon-fish, Long-tailed Dragonfish, Longtail Seamoth, longtail seamouth, Pelagic dragon-fish, Sea Moth, shorttail dragonfish, Slender seamoth, Winged Dragonfish

Names in 5 more languages

German: Drachenrößchen, Schlanker Flügelrossfisch
French: Poisson-papillon à longue queue
Japanese: Tenguno-otoshigo, Yaritengu, ヤリテング
Thai: ปลาผีเสื้อกลางคืนปากยาว, ปลาผีเสื้อกลางคืนหางยาว, ปลาผีเสื้อทะเลยาว
Simplified Chinese: 海蛾魚, 短海蛾魚, 短海蛾鱼, 長副海蛾魚, 长副海蛾鱼, 飛海蛾魚, 飞海蛾鱼

Other scientific names: Cataphractus anceps, Leptopegasus natans, Parapegasus natans, Parapegasus volitans, Pégase spatule, Pegasis volitans, Pegasus natans, Pegasus pristis, Pegasus spatula, Pegasus volans

Similar species

Short dragonfish
Eurypegasus draconis

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).
608 open-data records from 1758 to 2022.

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