Flying gurnard

Flying gurnard
	A flying gurnard near Crete, Greece
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Syngnathiformes
Family:	Dactylopteridae
Genus:	Dactylopterus; Lacépède, 1801
Species:	D. volitans
Binomial name
	Dactylopterus volitans; (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
	Callionymus pelagicus Rafinesque, 1818; Cephalacanthus spinarella (Linnaeus, 1758); Cephalacanthus volitans (Linnaeus, 1758); Dactilopterus volitans (Linnaeus, 1758); Dactylopterus blochii Swainson, 1839; Dactylopterus communis Owen, 1853; Dactylopterus fasciatus Swainson, 1839; Dactylopterus occidentalis Swainson, 1839; Dactylopterus spinarella (Linnaeus, 1758); Dactylopterus tentaculatus Swainson, 1839; Dactylopterus vulgaris Steindachner, 1867; Gasterosteus spinarella Linnaeus, 1758; Gonocephalus macrocephalus Gronow, 1854; Polynemus sexradiatus Mitchill, 1818; Trigla fasciata Bloch & Schneider, 1801; Trigla volitans Linnaeus, 1758;

The flying gurnard (Dactylopterus volitans), also known as the helmet gurnard, is a species of Syngnathiformes fish belonging to the family Dactylopteridae. It is a bottom-dwelling fish that inhabits tropical to warm temperate waters on both sides of the Atlantic.

It is the only species in the genus Dactylopterus making it monotypic. Similar and related species from the genus Dactyloptena are found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.