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| fishes text index | photo index |
| Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrate > fishes > Family Callionymidae |
| Smallhead
dragonet Callionymus erythraeus Family Callionymidae updated Sep 2020 Where seen? This little fish with a permanent pout is often seen on Changi, sometimes seen on our Northern shores, on sandy areas near seagrasses. Well camouflaged on the sand, it is hard to spot. It is more active at night. Features: Those seen about 5cm, grows to about 10cm. Body somewhat flattened downwards. Head broad and flat with a narrow pointed mouth so that the head appears triangular when seen from above. The mouth can stick out downwards forming a tube and the upper jaw can be greatly extended. Large eyes are set high on the head. Gill openings reduced to small pores on the top of the broad head. It has a pattern of spots that blend well with the sand, usually beige with indistinct dusky spots. But sometimes with colourful blue spots too. It is white on the underside. In the male, the first three spines of the dorsal fin are greatly elongated into filaments. The females lack this. According to Ng, it lacks a distinct dark spot at the base of the pectoral fin and anal-fin rays. It is otherwise distinguished from the other dragonets of Singapore in having a sharply delineated wavy line separating the colour pattern on the upper and lower surfaces of the body, dark markings on the anal fin, and the first dorsal fin of males with elongate second, third, and fourth fin rays. The females lack this. Sometimes mistaken for flatheads (Family Platycephalidae). Here's more on how to tell apart fish with flat heads. |
 Changi, Jul 09 |
 Male. Changi, Jun 13 |
 Male. Changi, Jun 09 |
 Underside of a dead specimen. Tanah Merah, Oct 09 |
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| Smallhead dragonets on Singapore shores |
On wildsingapore
flickr
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| Other sightings on Singapore shores |
 Changi, Jun 20 Photo shared by Dayna Cheah on facebook. |
 Tiny, about 1cm. Changi, Aug 12 Photo shared by Marcus Ng on flickr. |
 Changi East, Jun 23 Photo shared by Marcus Ng on facebook. |
 East Coast Park, Aug 18 Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on facebook. |
| Acknowledgement Grateful thanks to Dr Ng Heok Hee for correcting the identification of these fishes. Links
References
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