Teleostei (teleosts) >
Beloniformes (Needle fishes) >
Exocoetidae (Flyingfishes)
Etymology: Cypselurus: Greek, kypselos, ou = swift + Greek,oura = tail (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Günther.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; pelagic-neritic; depth range 0 - ? m. Tropical; 31°N - 2°S, 114°W - 78°W
Eastern Central Pacific: Mexico to Ecuador.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 55763); common length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 55763)
Body elongate, cylindrical, and thick; snout blunt, shorter than eye diameter; lower jaw slightly shorter than upper jaw and hidden by it; fins lacking spines; pectoral fins set high on body, extremely long, surpassing midpoint of dorsal fin; anal fin origin located behind dorsal fin origin by at least 3 or more rays; back iridescent blue green; belly yellowish white, pectoral fins with numerous, dark checkered spots (Ref. 55763).
Epipelagic in coastal waters. Capable of leaping and gliding considerable distances above the surface.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Parin, N.V., 1995. Exocoetidae. Peces voladores. p. 1091-1103. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome. (Ref. 9300)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: bycatch
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 15.9 - 26.4, mean 20.9 °C (based on 41 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5002 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00631 (0.00288 - 0.01384), b=3.05 (2.85 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.0 ±0.6 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (20 of 100).