Exocoetidae

Thesaurus

Noun

Exocoetidae - flying fishes; closely related to the halfbeaksfamily Exocoetidaefish family - any of various families of fishorder Synentognathi, Synentognathi - order of fishes having spineless fins; needlefishes; sauries; flying fishes; halfbeaksflying fish - tropical marine fishes having enlarged winglike fins used for brief gliding flight

Exocoetidae

[‚ek·sə′sēd·ə‚dē] (vertebrate zoology) The halfbeaks, a family of actinopterygian fishes in the order Atheriniformes.

Exocoetidae

(flying fish), a family of fish of the order Beloniformes. The body length reaches 45 cm. The pectoral fins are placed high on the body and are very long and broad—adaptations enabling the fish to glide above the water and escape from predatory fish. The exocoetids are capable of flying more than 100 m through the air and of reaching a height of 10 m; sometimes they land on the decks of ships. Thus, the pectoral fins serve as surfaces of flight. The organ of motion in the water is the caudal fin, which has an elongated lower lobe.

The family comprises six genera, which are primarily distributed in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. In the USSR, the Cheilopogon heterurus sometimes appears in Peter the Great Bay in the summer months; the Exocoetus volitans is also encountered. The exocoetids feed on small plankton organisms and, in turn, serve as prey for many predatory fishes.

G. U. LINDBERG

Exocoetidae

Exocoetidae

Exocoetidae

Exocoetidae

Exocoetidae

Synonyms for Exocoetidae

noun flying fishes

Synonyms

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