''Exocoetus obtusirostris'', commonly known as the oceanic two-wing flyingfish or the blunt-snouted flyingfish, is a species of

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

native to the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic Ocean. It has the ability to glide above the surface of the water to escape from

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 th ...

Description

The species can reach a length of . It is similar in appearance to the

tropical two-wing flyingfish ''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. Description ...

(''Exocoetus volitans'') which shares much of its range, but differs in certain characteristics; the head is quite blunt, the forehead sloping steeply down in front of the eyes; the

pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

s extend as far as the base of the caudal fin; the origin of the anal fin is slightly in front of the origin of the dorsal fin, and the dorsal fin is colourless. Both these two-winged species have very small pelvic fins, whereas other so called four-winged species of flyingfish have pelvic fins that extend at least as far as the origin of the anal fin. Like all flying-fishes, ''E. obtusirostris'' exhibits

countershading Countershading, or Thayer's law, is a method of camouflage in which an animal's coloration is darker on the top or upper side and lighter on the underside of the body. This pattern is found in many species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, a ...

, being darkish blue dorsally and white ventrally.

Distribution and habitat

At one time ''E. obtusirostris'' was considered to be a circum-global species, but the similar populations of different oceans were later split into three separate species. As now understood, it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to tropical and subtropical parts of the Atlantic Ocean. In the western Atlantic its range includes 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 ...

and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an 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 the United S ...

and in the eastern Atlantic it extends from

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

, the

Azores ) , motto= ( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem=( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

and possibly the westernmost

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. It occurs in surface waters, both near the coast and in the open ocean, at depths down to about .

Ecology

The diet of ''E. obtusirostris'' consists of small planktonic invertebrates, mostly

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), a number of species have p ...

s and

chaetognaths The Chaetognatha or chaetognaths (meaning ''bristle-jaws'') are a phylum of predatory marine worms that are a major component of plankton worldwide. Commonly known as arrow worms, about 20% of the known Chaetognatha species are benthic, and c ...

. It is consumed by various predatory fish and by squids, dolphins and seabirds. Fish become mature when they are about in length. The female produces a number of bundles of eggs over a period of around five days, producing an average of 10,000 eggs. All fish will die soon after breeding.

Status

''Exocoetus obtusirostris'' is not the subject of a fishery and no particular threats to it are known. It is common in the Gulf of Mexico but its conservation status in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea are less well known. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...

has listed its status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. Th ...

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2314553 obtusirostris Fish described in 1866 Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Taxa named by Albert Günther