Flying fish

Cheilopogon melanurus

Flying fish ( Exocoetidae ) are bony fish from the order of garfish -like, which are equally well adapted to their wing-like fins for gliding through water and air. Flying fish are found in tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Indo-Pacific and Mediterranean.

Characteristics of the flight

Unlike, say, the South American Hatchetfishes can not beat their pectoral fins to look like birds to fly similar active flying fish. Catapult you off with a dip in the water and sail short distances by gliding over the water surface. The most routes to reach the fish when they glide very close and parallel to the water surface through the air: At a height of 1.5 meters to slide the fish can stay on for 30 seconds in the air to cover distances of up to 400 meters. The opportunities offered by the aerodynamics of flight performance are comparable to those of birds. Occasionally they reach their glides speeds of up to 70 km / h and altitudes of up to five meters, so they sometimes fall into low boats.

Gliding through the air is generally interpreted as escape behavior from predators.

Anatomy

Flying fish have unusually large, high on the body scheduled pectoral fins. In the subfamily Cypselurinae the pelvic fins are like wings increased so that four wings are available for the gliders available. The shoulder girdle and chest muscles are very strong. The caudal fin is deeply forked, the lower lobe longer than the upper. Upper and lower jaws are at the flying fish, in contrast to most other garfish -like, equally long, the mouth is terminal and not vorstreckbar. Only the juveniles of some species have elongated lower jaw. The body resembles that of the herring -like and is covered with large, gently sloping shed. The relatively large nasal opening is located just in front of the eyes. The swim bladder is ungekammert and also large.

Flying fish are on average smaller than 30 inches, the largest subspecies Cheilopogon pinnatibarbatus californicus reaches a length of 45 centimeters.

Reproduction

They stick their partially provided with adhesive threads eggs (for Exocoetus not ) to floating objects such as driftwood, Sargassum or floating pumice. On the Coromandel coast lure fishing flying fish, by hanging bundles of straw as a spawning ground in the water.

Inside systematics

There are four families, seven genera and 50 species. Originally regarded as a basal flying fish genus Oxyporhamphus is now classified in the Halbschnäblern ( Hemirhamphidae ). After a phylogenetic study Oxyporhamphus is within the Halbschnäblergattung Hemiramphus.

  • Subfamily Fodiatorine, eggs with very long prison threads. Genus Fodiator Jordan & Meek, 1885 Fodiator acutus ( Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Fodiator rostratus ( Günther, 1866)
  • Genus Parexocoetus Bleeker, 1866 Parexocoetus brachypterus ( Richardson, 1846)
  • Parexocoetus hillianus ( Gosse, 1851)
  • Parexocoetus mento ( Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Genus Exocoetus Linnaeus, 1758 Exocoetus gibbosus Parin & Shakhovskoy, 2000
  • Exocoetus Monocirrhus Richardson, 1846
  • Exocoetus obtusirostris Günther, 1866
  • Exocoetus peruvianus Parin & Shakhovskoy, 2000
  • Swallow Fish ( Exocoetus volitans) Linnaeus, 1758
  • Cheilopogon Agoo ( Temminck & Schlegel, 1846)
  • Cheilopogon antoncichi ( Woods & Schultz, 1953)
  • Cheilopogon arcticeps ( Günther, 1866)
  • Cheilopogon atrisignis ( Jenkins, 1903)
  • Cheilopogon cyanopterus ( Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Cheilopogon doederleinii ( Steindachner, 1887)
  • Cheilopogon dorsomacula ( Fowler, 1944)
  • Cheilopogon exsiliens (Linnaeus, 1771)
  • Cheilopogon furcatus ( Mitchill, 1815)
  • Cheilopogon heterurus ( Rafinesque, 1810)
  • Cheilopogon hubbsi ( Parin, 1961)
  • Cheilopogon intermedius Parin, 1961
  • Cheilopogon katoptron ( Bleeker, 1866)
  • Cheilopogon melanurus ( Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Cheilopogon milleri ( Gibbs & Staiger, 1970)
  • Cheilopogon nigricans ( Bennett, 1840)
  • Cheilopogon papilio ( Clark, 1936)
  • Cheilopogon pinnatibarbatus ( Bennett, 1831)
  • Cheilopogon pitcairnensis ( Nichols & Breder, 1935)
  • Cheilopogon rapanouiensis Parin, 1961
  • Cheilopogon simus ( Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Cheilopogon spilonotopterus ( Bleeker, 1866)
  • Cheilopogon spilopterus ( Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Cheilopogon suttoni ( Whitley & Colefax, 1938)
  • Cheilopogon unicolor ( Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Cheilopogon ventralis ( Nichols & Breder, 1935)
  • Cheilopogon xenopterus ( Gilbert, 1890)
  • Cypselurus angusticeps Nichols & Breder, 1935
  • Cypselurus callopterus ( Günther, 1866)
  • Cypselurus comatus ( Mitchill, 1815)
  • Cypselurus hexazona ( Bleeker, 1853)
  • Cypselurus hiraii Abe, 1953
  • Cypselurus naresii ( Günther, 1889)
  • Cypselurus oligolepis ( Bleeker, 1866)
  • Cypselurus opisthopus ( Bleeker, 1866)
  • Cypselurus poecilopterus ( Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Cypselurus starksi Abe, 1953
  • Hirundichthys affinis ( Günther, 1866)
  • Hirundichthys albimaculatus ( Fowler, 1934)
  • Hirundichthys coromandelensis ( Hornell, 1923)
  • Hirundichthys indicus Shakhovskoy & Parin, 2013
  • Hirundichthys marginatus ( Nichols & Breder, 1928)
  • Hirundichthys oxycephalus ( Bleeker, 1852)
  • Hirundichthys rondeletii ( Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Hirundichthys socotranus ( Steindachner, 1902)
  • Hirundichthys speculiger ( Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Prognichthys brevipinnis ( Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Prognichthys gibbifrons ( Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1847)
  • Prognichthys glaphyrae Parin, 1999
  • Prognichthys occidentalis Parin, 1999
  • Prognichthys sealei Abe, 1955
  • Prognichthys tringa Breder, 1928

Swell

  • Joseph S. Nelson: Fishes of the World, John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7
  • Kurt Fiedler: Textbook of Special Zoology, Volume II, Part 2: Fish, Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena, 1991, ISBN 3-334-00339-6
  • Flying Fish on Fishbase.org (English)
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Oxyporhamphus micropterus Achille Valenciennes Hermann Schlegel Franz Steindachner Pieter Bleeker Maubara Digital Object Identifier Integrated Authority File
85739
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