The sailfin flying fish (''Parexocoetus brachypterus'') is a member of the flying fish family (''

Exocoetidae The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird ...

''). 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 Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

. 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.

Description

The sailfin flying fish is stocky as far as flying fish are concerned. It has comparatively small pectoral fins and a long dorsal fin relative to other flying fish. One distinguishing feature is its blunt snout. It displays countershading.McEachren J, Fechhelm JD. 1998. ''Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico, Vol. 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes''. One average, ''P. brachypterus'' measure 110-130 mm in length. Females of the species are usually slightly longer and heavier than the males.Stevens PW, Bennett CK, and Berg JJ. 2003. Flyingfish spawning (''Parexocoetus brachypterus)'' in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. ''Environmental Biology of Fishes'' 61: 71-76.

Distribution and habitat

This species is dispersed globally in coastal and sub-coastal waters. It is found in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.Chang S, Chang C, Ame E. 2012. “Species composition and distribution of the dominant flying fishes (Exocoetidae) associated with the Kuroshio Current, South China Sea” ''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology'' 60(2): 539-550.Trilles J, Ravichandran S, Rameshkumar G. 2011. A checklist of the Cymothoidae (Crustacea, Isopoda) recorded from Indian fishes. ''Acta Parasitologica'' 56(4): 446-459. In the Western Atlantic Ocean, it can be found off the shores of northern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, as well as in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

and the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

Behavior

When spawning sailfin flying fish aggregate in large numbers, with groups estimated to contain up to one million members in some cases. The individuals in such aggregations display high-energy jumping, gliding and swimming. Groups contain an unequal sex ratio, with males being approximately three times more abundant than females. Small groups usually containing 3-4 fish have been observed during spawning events. Such groups are thought to consist of one female being pursued by several males; these observations are consistent with the sex rations observed in the group as a whole. There are two spawning periods during the year, one from September to January, and one from March to August. Unlike other species of flying fish, it is unsure whether or not fertilized eggs need to attach themselves to flotsam. There are reports that this species’ eggs may be free-floating.

Ecology

Like most other flying fish, the sailfin flying fish feeds primarily on

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

. It has also been found to eat fish scales and

Sargassum ''Sargassum'' is a genus of brown (class Phaeophyceae) macroalgae (seaweed) in the order Fucales. Numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and coral re ...

, and is thought to be a generalist. It plays an important ecological role as a prey species for larger predators. Some organisms known to predate on the sailfin flying fish are large fish, dolphinfish in particular, large squids, and seabirds. The sailfin flying fish is the only known host to the buccal attaching

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

''Glossobius parexocoetii'', an

isopod Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...

in the family ''

Cymothoidae The Cymothoidae are a family of isopods in the suborder Cymothoida found in both marine and freshwater environments. Cymoithoids are ectoparasites, usually of fish, and they include the bizarre "tongue-biter" ('' Cymothoa exigua''), which att ...

''. ''P. brachypterus'' has also been seen hosting various other species of parasites.

Importance to humans

''P. brachypterus'' is generally considered

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

by the commercial fishing industry. However, like other flying fishes, they can be prepared as

salted fish Salted fish, such as kippered herring or dried and salted cod, is fish cured with dry salt and thus preserved for later eating. Drying or salting, either with dry salt or with brine, was the only widely available method of preserving fish unt ...

by salting them and leaving them to dry out in the sun. In

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, the sailfin flying fish and other flying fish are eaten by locals and are also used as bait. Flying fish eggs are also exported to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. To the

Tao people The Tao people are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the tiny outlying Orchid Island of Taiwan. They have a maritime culture, with great ritual and spiritual significance placed on boat-building and fishing. Their ways of life have been thr ...

, an indigenous ethnic group in Taiwan, ''P. brachypterus'' is one of the species of flying fish that comprise the bulk of their traditional fishing stock. Important Tao festivals coincide with the arrival and departure and flying fish from local waters. Between 2006-2007, there was a 60% decrease in the numbers of flying fish taken from Taiwanese fisheries, leading to concern from the indigenous people about the long-term viability of the flying fish stock. As an important prey item of

dolphinfish ''Coryphaena'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes known as the dolphinfishes, and is currently the only known genus in the family Coryphaenidae. The generic name is from Greek κορυφή (''koryphē'', "crown, top") and -αινα (-''aina'' ...

, the sailfin flying fish and other species of flying fish play an important ecological role in maintaining dolphinfish fisheries. Because of high populations in the eastern Caribbean, some scientists have suggested investigating the feasibility of commercial ''P. brachypterus'' fishing in the region.Oxenford HA, Mahon R, Hunte W. 1995. DISTRIBUTION AND RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF FLYINGFISH (EXOCOETIDAE) IN THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN .1. ADULTS ''Marine Ecology Progress Series''117(1-3): 11-23.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13688923 Sailfin flying fish Fish described in 1846