identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
DD5B6FEA5DDF5AA7B6DD889B3F81527B.text	DD5B6FEA5DDF5AA7B6DD889B3F81527B.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Callionymus draconis Nakabo 1977	<div><p>Callionymus draconis Nakabo, 1977</p><p>English common name: Japanese spiny dragonet (Fig. 1 A – D; Table 1)</p><p>Callionymus csiro . — Fricke (1983 a): 457, fig. 135, table 22. Type locality (Fricke, 1983 a): off Carnarvon, Western Australia, depth 138 m.</p><p>Callionymus draconis . — Nakabo (1977): pp. 98, figs. 1–2. — Fricke (1983 a): pp. 461–465, fig. 137. — Fricke (2016): pp. 63. Type locality (Nakabo, 1977): off Kochi Prefecture, Japan, depth about 150 m.</p><p>Spinicapitichthys draconis . — Nakabo (1983): 247, 248, fig. 25, Table 1. — Nakabo (1984): pp. 345. — Nakabo et al. (1992): pp. 289–293, figs. 1–3, Table 1. — Nakabo (2000): pp. 1131. — Motomura et al. (2015): pp. 29.</p><p>Material examined.</p><p>FCRI.CAL.005, 1 male, 71.0 mm SL (Fig. 1 A – D), southern coast of India, off Kanyakumari, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=77.25&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=8.172501" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long 77.25/lat 8.172501)">Colachel Fishing Harbour</a>; 8°10'21"N, 077°15'00"E; 06 Aug. 2025, S. Ragul leg.</p><p>H, Holotype of C. draconis; S, holotype of C. csiro, junior synonym of C. draconis; * data from Fricke (1983 a)</p><p>Description.</p><p>(Based on single male specimen). Body elongate, dorsoventrally flattened (Fig. 1 A, B). Head elongate, slightly depressed. Snout shorter than eye diameter. Eye large, positioned dorsolaterally. Interorbital space extremely narrow, concave. Single, elongate supraorbital tentacle present posterodorsal to eye (Fig. 1 D). Preopercular spine prominent, with 4–6 antrorse serrae on its dorsal margin and four antrorse serrae on its ventral margin, in addition to strong, forward-curved principal tip (Fig. 1 C). Occipital region with pair of low, slightly elevated bony protuberances. Mouth small, subterminal; maxilla extending to vertical through anterior margin of eye. Gill opening reduced to small pore dorsal to upper pectoral-fin base. swim bladder absent. Scales absent. Urogenital papilla elongate. Cephalic lateral-line system with simple supraorbital canal, terminating posterior to nasal pore. Lateral line extending from eye to distal tip of caudal fin; left and right lines interconnected by transverse branch across occipital region. First dorsal fin equal in height to second dorsal; spines not elongated as filaments, first spine longest. First dorsal fin originating well posterior to pectoral-fin base, approximately above pelvic-fin insertion. Second dorsal-fin and anal-fin rays unbranched, except posteriormost ray divided at base. Second dorsal and anal fins long-based; anal-fin origin positioned posterior to origin of second dorsal fin. Pectoral fin broad, fan shaped. Pelvic fin large, inserted anterior to pectoral-fin base, connected by membrane to pectoral-fin base. Caudal fin elongate, exceptionally long (slightly smaller than standard length), without elongated filaments. For detailed meristic counts and proportional measurements as percentages of standard length (SL), see Table 1.</p><p>Coloration (fresh specimen) (Fig. 1 A, B, D). Dorsum of head and body dark brownish grey, heavily mottled with blackish-grey and pale creamy spots and patches. Flanks with sharp transition to pale creamy-greyish white ventrally. Cheek and gill cover matching dorsal mottling. First dorsal dark grey to black. Second dorsal mottled dark brown / grey and whitish. Pectoral and pelvic fins pale brownish grey, translucent; pectoral fin with faint vertical rows of dark spots; pelvic tips subtly darker. Anal fin bicolored, distal half dark grey to black, base pale whitish. Caudal fin with bold, alternating vertical streaks of dark grey / black and pale / whitish; elongated mid-rays conspicuously dark; upper half with yellow spots (Fig. 1 A). Branchiostegal membrane and thorax pale greyish white.</p><p>Coloration (preserved specimen). Ground color faded, head and body paler; black blotches and bars more distinct. Fins dark greyish to black.</p><p>Distribution and habitat.</p><p>The Japanese spiny dragonet ( Callionymus draconis) inhabits soft-bottom habitats in the Indo-West Pacific (Fricke 2016), with previously confirmed records from southern Japan (Nakabo 1977; Nakabo et al. 1992), the East China Sea (Motomura et al. 2015), and western Australia (Fricke 1983 a) at depths of approximately 138 to 150 m. The specimen reported here, collected off Kanyakumari, southern India (Fig. 2) at ca. 80 to 100 m, constitutes a major westward range extension and the shallowest known record for the species.</p><p>Remarks.</p><p>The presently reported specimen is assigned to the genus Callionymus and the subgenus C. ( Spinicapitichthys) based on diagnostic characters including a flattened head, small subterminal mouth, serrated preopercular spine with a strong basal spine, scaleless body, and an armored occipital region (Fricke 1983 a, 2002). Within this subgenus, it is identified as C. draconis by its preopercular spine with 4–6 dorsal and 4 ventral serrae, elongate supraorbital tentacle, meristic counts (D IV + vii, 1; A vii, 1), and distinctive coloration with yellow spots and a boldly banded caudal fin, aligning with the species diagnosis (Nakabo 1977; Fricke 1983 a). Morphometric comparisons (Table 1) reveal only slight intraspecific variation; head length (32.4 % SL) and caudal fin length (83.8 % SL) fall within or near the documented ranges (33.5 % – 35.5 % SL and 53.2 % – 94.0 % SL, respectively), consistent with phenotypic or ontogenetic changes in widespread cryptobenthic fishes (Nakabo et al. 1992).</p><p>The presently reported specimen of Callionymus draconis differs from all other species of the subgenus Callionymus (Spinicapitichthys), i. e. C. alisae, C. io, C. muscatensis, C. obscurus, C. oxycephalus, and C. spiniceps by having a long supraorbital tentacle (vs. absent in C. io and C. obscurus, vs. comparatively shorter in all other species); a higher number of anal-fin rays of vii, 1 (vs. vi, 1 in C. alisae and C. obscurus), and by a combination of preopercle spine formula, a higher or lower number of spines on the dorsal margin of 4–5 (vs. 3 in C. obscurus; 5–10 in C. oxycephalus, 8–15 in C. spiniceps); a lower or higher number of spines on the ventral margin of 4 (vs. 5–8 in C. alisae, 6 in C. io, 4–9 in C. oxycephalus, 5–9 in C. spiniceps; 1–3 in C. muscatensis, 1–2 in C. obscurus). It is similar to C. muscatensis but can be differentiated by having different length proportions of spines in the first dorsal fin (2 nd&gt; 1 st&gt; 3 rd&gt; 4 th vs. 2&gt; 3&gt; 1&gt; 4 in C. muscatensis); a longer supraorbital tentacle, measuring 4.18 in HL in the present Indian specimen (compared to 6.0–11.0 in HL reported for C. muscatensis); a shorter caudal fin in the male (1.9 in SL in present specimen vs. 1.1–1.4 in SL in C. muscatensis); and a longer last ray of the second dorsal fin (4.2 in SL in present specimen vs. 4.7–6.0 in SL in C. muscatensis).</p><p>The presently reported is a male, as confirmed by the presence of an elongate urogenital papilla (2.8 % SL) and overall body proportions consistent with the male morphology of C. draconis described by Nakabo et al. (1992). That study documented clear sexual dimorphism in the species, with males possessing a longer urogenital papilla, a longer caudal fin, and distinct yellow spots on the caudal fin, all traits observed in the Indian specimen, thereby confirming its sex.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/DD5B6FEA5DDF5AA7B6DD889B3F81527B	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		Pensoft via Plazi	Ragul, Sivakumar;Balaganesan, M.;Karuppasamy, K. K.;Durairaja, R.;Jayakumar, N.;Fricke, Ronald	Ragul, Sivakumar, Balaganesan, M., Karuppasamy, K. K., Durairaja, R., Jayakumar, N., Fricke, Ronald (2026): Westernmost record of the Japanese spiny dragonet, Callionymus draconis (Actinopterygii, Callionymiformes, Callionymidae), from Tamil Nadu, southern India. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria 56: 111-116, DOI: 10.3897/aiep.56.181255
