Comprehensive DescriptionRead full entry
| Common names: flyingfish (English), volador (Espanol) |
Exocoetus monocirrhus Richardson, 1846
Elongate, broadly cylindrical bodies; head short, snout short and blunt; mouth small, lower jaw a little longer than upper jaw; no teeth; 21-29 (usually 24-27) gill rakers; fins without spines; dorsal 13-14 rays; anal 12-14 rays; pectoral reaches to tail fin base, its 1st ray unbranched; pelvic fin with origin nearer pectoral base than anal origin, fin short, not reaching anal origin; anal origin under or behind 3rd dorsal ray; tail deeply forked with a longer lower lobe; lateral line low on the body, no branch to origin of pectoral; scales large, smooth, easily shed; normally 7 rows of scales between dorsal origin and lateral line; 18-21 scales before dorsal fin; juveniles with nape hump and chin barbell.
Brown above; silver below; dorsal, anal and pelvic clear; pectoral dark, narrow clear margin; tail grey; juveniles: yellow-brown with 3 bars; dorsal and anal black at rear; tail clear; barbel grey, tip black.
Size: 23 cm.
Habitat: oceanic pelagic.
Depth: surface, 0-20 m.
Indo-Pacific; the mouth of the Gulf of California to Ecuador and the oceanic islands.