Common names from other countries
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: .
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Marine; demersal; depth range 15 - 150 m. Subtropical; 46°N - 31°N, 10°W - 36°E
Eastern Atlantic: northern Mediterranean, from Gibraltar to the coast of Israel, including the Adriatic, Aegean and western and northern Black Sea; also Algeria and Tunisia. Rarely seen off Portugal.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 18.2 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 88088); common length : 4.0 cm male/unsexed; (Ref. 3397)
Found on sandy bottoms in shallow coastal waters. Feeds on small bottom invertebrates, mainly worms and crustaceans. Oviparous, eggs and larvae are pelagic.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Fricke, R., 1986. Callionymidae. p. 1086-1093. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the North-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 3. (Ref. 5968)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)
CITES (Ref. 115941)
Threat to humans
Fisheries: subsistence fisheries
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates of some properties based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969
): 13.1 - 18.7, mean 14.8 (based on 118 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00832 (0.00630 - 0.01098), b=2.78 (2.72 - 2.84), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.0 ±0.4 se; Based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low vulnerability (24 of 100) .