Cosmopolitan Flyingfish, Exocoetus volitans Linnaeus 1758

Other Names: Common Flying-fish, Cosmopolitan Flying-fish, Tropical Two Wing Flyingfish, Two-wing Flyingfish

Summary:

A dark iridescent blue to blackish flying fish, silvery white below, with greyish pectoral and caudal fins, and the other fins unpigmented. Juveniles are mostly pale with dark vertical bars, and the rear of the dorsal and anal fins are black.
Video of dolphinfish and frigate birds preying on the Cosmopolitan Flyingfish.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2021, Exocoetus volitans in Fishes of Australia, accessed 24 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/4081

Cosmopolitan Flyingfish, Exocoetus volitans Linnaeus 1758

More Info

Distribution	Off south-western Western Australia, around the tropical north to Wollongong, New South Wales, but absent from the Arafura Sea. Many specimens have been misidentified, and many southern records may be misdentified Exocoetus monocirrhus. Elsewhere the species is circumglobal in tropical and subtropical seas. The Cosmopolitan Flyingfish is the most abundant flying fish in offshore tropical waters of all oceans at temperatures between 20-29°C. Adults form schools in occur in surface waters, both near and far from the coast. Individuals often leap out of the water and glide for long distances above the surface.
Features	Dorsal fin 12-15; Anal fin 12-14; Vertebrae 43-46; Gill rakers 29-37; Branchiostegal rays 9-11. Body elongate, broadly cylindrical; head deep; snout blunt, shorter than eye, profile steep; mouth small, short, blunt, lower jaw a little longer than upper jaw; teeth absent. Juveniles elongate, no nape hump, no chin barbel, and unpigmented pelvic fins. Scales large, smooth, easily shed; usually 6.5 (6-7) transverse rows of scales between dorsal-fin origin and lateral line; 16-21 scales before dorsal fin; lateral line low on the body, no branch of lateral line to origin of pectoral. Pectoral fin reaches to caudal-fin base, first ray unbranched; pelvic-fin origin nearer pectoral-fin base than anal-fin origin, fin very short, ending well before anal-fin origin; anal-fin origin below dorsal-fin origin; tail deeply forked with a longer lower lobe.
Feeding	Feeds mostly on crustaceans (copepods) along with other zooplankton.
Biology	The sexes are separate and females produce buoyant, pelagic eggs in batches. Individuals under 14 cm standard length are immature and all above 17 cm SL are ripe. The maximum age is at least one year.
Conservation	IUCN Least Concern
Remarks	The species is consumed upon by a large variety of predatory fishes, including swordfish, tunas, snake mackerel, dolphinfishes and rainbow runners. The species is also consumed by seabirds.
Etymology	The specific name is from the Latin volitans (= flying), in reference to this species leaping out of the water and appearing to fly.
Species Citation	Exocoetus volitans Linnaeus 1758, Systema naturae 1: 316. Type locality: European and American seas.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2021
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Cosmopolitan Flyingfish, Exocoetus volitans Linnaeus 1758

References

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