Beaked Flyingfish, Oxyporhamphus micropterus (Valenciennes 1847)


Other Names: Beaked Flying-fish, Bigwing Halfbeak, Oceanic Flying Halfbeak, Smallwing Flyingfish

A Beaked Flyingfish, Oxyporhamphus micropterus, from Japan. Source: Fishpix (http://fishpix.kahaku.go.jp/) / via Shorefishes of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:
This species was previously considered to belong the the family Hemiramphidae.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2021, Oxyporhamphus micropterus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/4495

Beaked Flyingfish, Oxyporhamphus micropterus (Valenciennes 1847)

More Info


Distribution

Based on few Australian records, predicted from off Cape Arid to off Shark Bay, Western Australia, Cartier Reef, Timor Sea, and off Burleigh Heads, Queensland, to Hobart, Tasmania. Elsewhere the species is circumglobal in tropical and temperate waters.
The Beaked Flyingfish is an oceanic species, not bound to coastal waters at any period of its life.

Features

Dorsal fin 13-15; Anal fin 14-16; Pectoral fin 12-13; Gill rakers 28-34; Predorsal scales 28-33.
Body elongate, broadly cylindrical, head short, snout short, blunt; mouth small, adults with lower jaw slightly projecting, juveniles with lower jaw extending into a short beak; pectoral fins of moderate length, reaching to origin of pelvic fins, about one-third SL; pelvic fins short, originating closer to anal-fin origin than to pectoral-fin base; caudal fin strongly forked, lower lobe only slightly larger than upper lobe in adult (more asymmetric in juvenile); lateral line low on body; scales large, smooth, deciduous.

Species Citation

Exocoetus micropterus Valenciennes, in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1847, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons Vol. 19: 127, pl. 563. Type locality: King George Sound, Western Australia (as New Holland). 

Author

Bray, D.J. 2021

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Beaked Flyingfish, Oxyporhamphus micropterus (Valenciennes 1847)

References


Collette, B.B. 1999. Family Hemiramphidae. pp. 2180-2196 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 4 pp. 2069-2790. 

Collette, B.B. & Su, J.-X. 1986. The halfbeaks (Pisces, Beloniformes, Hemiramphidae) of the Far East. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 138: 250-302 

Cuvier, G.L. & Valenciennes, A. 1847. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : Levrault Vol. 19 544 pp. pls 554-590. See ref at BHL

Dasilao, J.C. Jr & Sasaki, K. 1998. Phylogeny of the flyingfish family Exocoetidae (Teleostei, Beloniformes). Ichthyological Research 45(4): 347-353 

Heller, E. & Snodgrass, R.E. 1903. Papers from the Hopkins Stanford Galapagos expedition, 1898-1899. XV. New fishes. Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences 5: 189-229 (as Evolantia micropterus)

Lewallen, E.A., Pitman, R.L., Kjartanson, S.L. & Lovejoy, N.R. 2011. Molecular systematics of flyingfishes (Teleostei: Exocoetidae): evolution in the epipelagic zone. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 102: 161–174 

Lovejoy, N.R., Iranpour, M. & Collette, B.B. 2004. Phylogeny and jaw ontogeny of beloniform fishes. Integrative and Comparative Biology 44(5): 366–377 

Parin, N.V., Collette, B.B. & Shcherbachev, Y.N. 1980. Preliminary review of the marine halfbeaks (Hemiramphidae, Beloniformes) of the tropical Indo-west Pacific. Trudy Instituta Okeanologii. Akademiya Nauk SSSR. Moskva 97: 7-173 figs 1-47 [in Russian] 

Struthers, C.D. 2015. Family Hemiramphidae. pp. 965-968 in Roberts, C.D., Stewart, A.L. & Struthers, C.D. The Fishes of New Zealand. Wellington : Te Papa Press Vol. 3 pp. 577-1152. 

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37233019

Depth:0-5 m

Habitat:Epipelagic, oceanic

Max Size:19 cm SL

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Species Maps

CAAB distribution map