Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Beloniformes
(Needle fishes) > Exocoetidae
Etymology: Cypselurus: Greek, kypselos, ou = swift + Greek,oura = tail (Ref. 45335).
Environment / Climate / Range
Marine; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 20 m (Ref. 9839). Tropical; 45°N - 25°S, 41°E - 154°W
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 27.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30874); common length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5450)
Indo-West Pacific: East Africa (including the Mascarenes, Ref. 33390) to Hokkaido, Japan and Queensland, Australia. Reported from Samoa (Ref. 592).
Inhabits neritic surface waters, rare in the open ocean (Ref. 30573). Capable of leaping out of the water and gliding for long distances above the surface (Ref. 3395).
Parin, N.V., 1996. On the species composition of flying fishes (Exocoetidae) in the West-Central part of tropical Pacific. J. Ichthyol. 36(5):357-364.
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)
Threat to humans
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
CollaboratorsPicturesStamps, CoinsSoundsCiguateraSpeedSwim. typeGill areaOtolithsBrainsVision
Estimates of some properties based on empirical models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 0.5010 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01000 (-0.30300 - 0.32300), b=3.04 (2.92 - 3.16), based on all LWR estimates for this BS (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.4 ±0.45 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278
): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Low vulnerability (15 of 100) .