Details
Exocoetus volitans
A tropical open-ocean flyingfish. It spreads enlarged pectoral fins like wings and glides above the surface to escape predators.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
Lives near the warm surface of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, usually in open water rather than close to shore.
The body is slender and silvery, with very large pectoral fins. A bluish back helps it blend with surface water.
It accelerates by beating the tail at the surface, then launches into the air and glides. Groups may burst from the water in sequence.
It eats zooplankton, small crustaceans, and other tiny surface animals, often feeding in loose schools.
Eggs have filament-like structures that attach to floating material or seaweed. Young fish grow in surface waters.
The glide is an extended jump, not powered flight. Flyingfish are important prey for tuna, dolphinfish, and seabirds.
