Mirrorwing flyingfish

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Mirrorwing flyingfish
FMIB 39638 Cypsilurus speculiger (Cuvier & Valenciennes).jpeg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Beloniformes
Family: Exocoetidae
Genus: Hirundichthys
Species:
H. speculiger
Binomial name
Hirundichthys speculiger
Synonyms
  • Cypselurus hyperistius Fowler, 1919
  • Cypselurus speculiger Valenciennes, 1847
  • Exocoetus hyperistius Fowler, 1919
  • Exocoetus nigripennis Valenciennes, 1847
  • Exocoetus polleni Bleeker, 1866
  • Exocoetus speculiger Valenciennes, 1847

The mirrorwing flyingfish (Hirundichthys speculiger) is a flying fish of the family Exocoetidae. It was first described by the French zoologist, Achille Valenciennes in a 22-volume work titled Histoire naturelle des poissons (Natural History of Fishes), which was a collaboration with Georges Cuvier.

Contents

Description

Mirrorwing flyingfish have 10-12 soft rays on their dorsal fins and 11-13 rays on their anal fins. [2] Their bodies are generally dark, with blue on top and silver-white on bottom. [2] The dorsal and caudal fins are both grayish, while the other fins are hyaline. [3] Juveniles have more elongated bodies and mottled fins. [3] Adults can grow up to 30 cm (1 ft) long, [4] but usually they reach about 24 cm. [5]

Distribution and habitat

Mirrorwing flyingfish are known from warm surface waters worldwide, [6] but are most common in tropical and temperate waters. In the Atlantic Ocean, they are common to the tropical areas in the east and all along the North and South American coasts, [4] but are uncommon in the Gulf of Guinea, [7] Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. [8] They are curiously absent from the Benguela Current. [6] In the Indian Ocean, mirrorwing are known from south Africa, [3] Mauritius, Rodrigues, the Maldives, [9] and the Chagos Archipelago. [10] In the Pacific Ocean, they are known from most regions save the seas of southeast Asia. [6] Mirrorwing flyingfish spawn year round in the offshore waters where they normally live attaching their eggs to floating debris in masses. [11] Mirrorwing eggs use a series of filaments to achieve this attachment, the arrangement of which can be used to identify them as mirrorwing eggs. [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Hirundichthys</i> Genus of fishes

Hirundichthys is a genus of flying fish. They have elongated, moderately thick, ventrally flattened bodies. The pectoral branch of the lateral line is absent. The upper jaw is not protrusible. The dorsal fin has fewer or equal rays than the anal fin; the dorsal fin is low, with the anterior rays the longest, the pectoral fins are strikingly long, reaching to or almost to caudal fin base; pelvic fins are long, reaching beyond the anal fin origin, and their insertion is closer to the anal fin origin than to the pectoral fin insertion.

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Cottonmouth jack Species of fish

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<i>Epinephelus flavocaeruleus</i> Species of fish

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Houndfish

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Atlantic flyingfish Species of fish

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The yellowmouth grouper, also known as the crossband rockfish, grey mannock, hamlet, harlequin rockfish, princess rockfish, rockfish, salmon grouper, salmon rock fish or scamp, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the Caribbean and in the tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also found in pockets in Brazil. It is a fairly large fish and it gets its name from the yellow around its mouth.

<i>Paranthias</i> Genus of fishes

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Sailfin flying fish

The sailfin flying fish is a member of the flying fish family (Exocoetidae). As is typical of other members of its family, this species has the ability to jump out of the water and glide on hypertrophied fins in order to evade predators. It is considered a “two-winged” flying fish, meaning that it only has enlarged pectoral fins, as opposed to “four-winged” flying fish, which have both enlarged pectoral and pelvic fins.

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Exocoetus volitans, commonly known as the tropical two-wing flyingfish or blue flyingfish, is a species of ray-finned fish native to tropical and subtropical seas. It can glide above the surface of the sea to escape predators.

<i>Hirundichthys rondeletii</i> Species of fish

Hirundichthys rondeletii, the black wing flyingfish, is a species of flying fish from the family Exocoetidae which is found throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

<i>Cephalopholis sonnerati</i> Species of fish

Cephalopholis sonnerati, known as the tomato hind, tomato rockcod, or tomato cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is in the family Serranidae which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is distributed on coral reefs in the tropical Indo-Pacific. It is also sometimes called the orange-spotted cod, red coral cod, red rockcod, tomato grouper, or tomato seabass.

References

  1. ↑ Collette, B.; Singh-Renton, S.; Robertson, R.; et al. (2015). "Hirundichthys speculiger". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2015: e.T190292A15551447. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T190292A15551447.en .
  2. 1 2 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2009). "Hirundichthys speculiger" in FishBase . 04 2009 version.
  3. 1 2 3 Heemstra, P.C. and N.V. Parin 1986 Exocoetidae. p. 391-396. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
  4. 1 2 Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez 1992 Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales marinas y de aquas salobres de la costa septentrional de Sur América. FAO, Rome. 513 p. Preparado con el financiamento de la Comisión de Comunidades Europeas y de NORAD.
  5. ↑ Jack S. Grove, Robert J. Lavenberg. The fishes of the Galápagos Islands - Science - 1997. Pg. 256-258
  6. 1 2 3 Parin, N.V. 1999 Exocoetidae. Flyingfishes. p. 2162-2179. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the WCP. Vol. 4. Bony fishes part 2 (Mugilidae to Carangidae). FAO, Rome.
  7. ↑ Parin, N.V. and R.H. Gibbs, Jr. 1990 Exocoetidae. p. 583-591. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2.
  8. ↑ Gibbs, R.H. Jr. 1978 Exocoetidae. In W. Fischer (ed.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Western Central Atlantic (Fishing Area 31). Vol. 2. pag.var.
  9. ↑ Fricke, R. 1999 Fishes of the Mascarene Islands (Réunion, Mauritius, Rodriguez): an annotated checklist, with descriptions of new species. Koeltz Scientific Books, Koenigstein, Theses Zoologicae, Vol. 31: 759 p.
  10. ↑ Winterbottom, R. and R.C. Anderson 1997 A revised checklist of the epipelagic and shore fishes of the Chagos Archipelago, Central Indian Ocean. Ichthyol. Bull. Smith. Inst. (66):1-28.
  11. 1 2 Munro, ISR (1954). "Eggs and Larvae of the Four-winged Flying Fish, Hirundichthys speculiger (Valenciennes)". Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 5 (1): 64–69. doi:10.1071/MF9540064 . Retrieved 2009-05-10.
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