Fish
Dragonet
Callionymus lyra
Callionymus lyra Linnaeus, 1758 · Callionymidae WoRMS 126792
Reference photos
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Flat, scaleless bottom fish that lies part-buried in sand or shell gravel; the first dorsal fin is tall and sail-like, and mature males have elongate dorsal and caudal fin rays.
Depth
1 to 440 m, most often between 5 and 50 m
Size
Up to 30.5 cm total length (females to 25 cm), commonly about 15 cm
Habitat
Lives on the sea bed on sand, mud and shell gravel, often partly buried, from the sublittoral into deep water
Behaviour
Territorial, males aggressive with each other; rests on the bottom with its fins folded down, blending into coarse sand or gravel
Diet
I eat
- Mainly polychaete worms
- Amphipods and other small bottom-living crustaceans
- Molluscs, especially cockles
Eats me
- Bony fish such as cod, pouting, conger eel and anglerfish
- Skates and rays, and the spurdog
- Marine mammals: grey and harbour seals and harbour porpoise
Where you'd find it
Found all around Britain and Ireland, so you have a chance of seeing it anywhere on the coast.
Sources
Open-access references behind this page. Every statement on this page was read out of one of them; anything that could not be traced to a source was taken off the page rather than left standing. Each link was checked on the date shown, and confirmed then to be about this species.
Common dragonet (Callionymus lyra)
Marine Life Information Network, Marine Biological Association of the UK
MarLINlink checked 2026-08-30
Callionymus lyra Linnaeus, 1758
World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS Editorial Board)
TaxonomyCC BY 4.0link checked 2026-08-30
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