Paul Naylor turns his biologist ’ s gaze to a striking fish of the seabed , often mistaken for other species
CRITTERCONFIDENTIAL
Common dragonet
Callionymus lyra
Dragonet on muddy seabed with quite drab colouration
Paul Naylor turns his biologist ’ s gaze to a striking fish of the seabed , often mistaken for other species
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What were those little fish that looked a bit like gobies ?’ is a question often provoked by the sight of small dragonets darting away across a sandy seabed . As so often with fish , and most animals come to that , a patient few moments of watching and waiting will reward you with a closer view . Even better , and just like gobies , dragonets may actually approach to see if you have disturbed any small creatures that they can devour .
A good look at a dragonet will then show how its head is much wider than a goby ’ s and is pointed , so is roughly triangular in shape . Dragonets can also be much larger than gobies , with the common dragonet reaching 30 cm long although 15 to 20 cm is a more usual size .
Large dragonets feeding in front of you can be an entertaining sight , because it seems to involve them taking in mouthfuls of sediment along with any potential prey and the crud has to be expelled . Some of it is ‘ coughed ’ out forwards as you might expect , while the rest is ejected in puffs from the gill slits , so the dragonet resembles a miniature steam train as it swims along .
Sadly , dragonets are much more secretive when it comes to mating . It is only very rarely seen , but the male performs an elaborate courtship dance in front of the female before they swim up towards the surface together , his fins helping to lift her as well as keep their spawn together and ensure fertilisation . The fertilised eggs and resulting larvae stay up in the plankton until the junior dragonet is about 1cm long .
On pink maerl ( calcified seaweed ) this dragonet has a more colourful pattern
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