Meet the Flying Fish
Ashim Kumar Paul
The beauty of creation is omnipresent
in the world of nature that surrounds us. The more we delve into the mysterious
world of nature, the more we become bowled over the discovery of the facts
lurking in the nature. It is because the creatures of enormous kinds living in
the lap of nature exhibit the diversity of life inbuilt in nature. Many
creatures, many twisting nature and life-cycles they possess. You will be left
astounded when your eyes move from viewing the radiance of nature visible on
earth to the exquisiteness of aquatic life.
However, before going through this
feature, just imagine the scene: a flock of
fishes in the blue sea are swimming. All of a sudden, a
shark is about to attack the fishes to satisfy its hunger, the
fishes jumped on the surface of the water and started flying that saved
their life from the clutches of the shark. It looks like a scene taken from an
animated film, doesn’t it? But
this is not fantasy; rather in reality, there
is something in this world those are called ‘flying fish’. The
flying fish has captured the imagination of people throughout the world for
centuries. It is a unique marine animal that is capable of launching itself
into the air and gliding for several hundred feet before returning to the
water. There are several facts of flying fish presented here including their
species, behaviour, reproduction, diet, and their symbolism.
Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Beloniformes
Family: Exocoetidae
Flying fish is the general term for a group of fish within the Exococetidae animal family. Exococetidae, a Greek word, means to 'lie down outside'. The family is divided into 7 genera (though other definitions may define 8 or 9 genera): Cheilopogon, Cypselurus, Exocoetus, Fodiator, Hirundichthys, Parexocoetus, and Prognichthys. These genera hold, consistent with different definitions, 45-64 species. Some of the species include the Japanese flying fish, scientifically known as Cheilopogon agoo and the California flying fish, scientifically known as Cypselurus californicus.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Beloniformes
Family: Exocoetidae
Flying fish is the general term for a group of fish within the Exococetidae animal family. Exococetidae, a Greek word, means to 'lie down outside'. The family is divided into 7 genera (though other definitions may define 8 or 9 genera): Cheilopogon, Cypselurus, Exocoetus, Fodiator, Hirundichthys, Parexocoetus, and Prognichthys. These genera hold, consistent with different definitions, 45-64 species. Some of the species include the Japanese flying fish, scientifically known as Cheilopogon agoo and the California flying fish, scientifically known as Cypselurus californicus.
Size
Typically, the flying fish is 7 to
12 inches in length, but some species grow up to 18 inches. The top half of the
flying fish is bluish-gray while the underside is grayish-silver. The flying
fish features large pectoral fins that can spread out like a bird’s wing. The
tail of the flying fish is deeply forked, but is uneven, with the lower end of
the tail longer than the upper end. The lower jaw of some species is much
larger than the upper jaw.
Behaviour
Flying fish tends to swim in
schools, which is one of the lesser known facts of flying fish in particular. Flying
fish, when threatened by predators, break the surface of the water and glide
several hundred feet in the air before coming back to the water. The process of
gliding begins by boosting speed in the water. This usually requires the flying
fish to flutter its tail back and forth rapidly. As the flying fish approaches
the surface, it can make a speed as fast as 37 mph. Once the surface is broken,
the flying fish spreads its pectoral wings and tilts it upward to glide up.
Flying fish can often reach up over four feet in the air and can remain in the
air for up to 655 feet.
Mating
Some species of flying fish tend to
swarm in large numbers during the mating season, which usually occurs when the
ocean currents are at their weakest. Depending on the region, this will fall
either during the spring or the fall. Up to one million flying fishes have been
observed in a single area during spawning.
The
Young
Flying fish eggs are deposited near
the surface of the water, usually attached to floating debris. As the young
hatch, they are vulnerable to predators. Luckily, most of the young can hide in
plain sight since they hardly look like adult flying fish at birth. The young
of most flying fish species have long whiskers around the mouth, which make it
look like the flower produced by plants in the Barringtonia genus.
Habitat
Flying fish are found all over the equatorial and temperate zones, flourishing in warm waters around the world. They are found mainly in the Indian and the Atlantic Ocean, and considerable stretches of the Pacific in Oceania. As mentioned before, they are found primarily in the pelagic (uppermost layer) and shallow zones of the water body. This not only allows them to make the best of their unusual defence mechanism, but maximizes their chances of finding their preferred food.
Flying fish are found all over the equatorial and temperate zones, flourishing in warm waters around the world. They are found mainly in the Indian and the Atlantic Ocean, and considerable stretches of the Pacific in Oceania. As mentioned before, they are found primarily in the pelagic (uppermost layer) and shallow zones of the water body. This not only allows them to make the best of their unusual defence mechanism, but maximizes their chances of finding their preferred food.
Flight
Flying fish have long, narrow bodies, which are excellently streamlined to reduce drag. Their eyes are quite large with respect to their body, giving them good vision out of water as well as in it. While underwater, they never venture into deep waters, since this negates their special ability. They swim close to the surface, and keep their fins close to their body.
When threatened, they use their tails to propel themselves above the water -- they flap their tails underwater more than 50 times per second (up to 70) and once out of the water, use their wings to glide across distances of more than 50 m. At the end of a flight, they can either drop back to the water by folding their wings, or extend their flight by slapping the water surface with their tails again while airborne. They can jump to a height of an astounding 6 meters, and can glide for a maximum recorded duration of 45 seconds! They can reach speeds up to 30 mph as they break out of the water, but then slow down during their glides, because their tail can't propel them through air.
Flying fish have long, narrow bodies, which are excellently streamlined to reduce drag. Their eyes are quite large with respect to their body, giving them good vision out of water as well as in it. While underwater, they never venture into deep waters, since this negates their special ability. They swim close to the surface, and keep their fins close to their body.
When threatened, they use their tails to propel themselves above the water -- they flap their tails underwater more than 50 times per second (up to 70) and once out of the water, use their wings to glide across distances of more than 50 m. At the end of a flight, they can either drop back to the water by folding their wings, or extend their flight by slapping the water surface with their tails again while airborne. They can jump to a height of an astounding 6 meters, and can glide for a maximum recorded duration of 45 seconds! They can reach speeds up to 30 mph as they break out of the water, but then slow down during their glides, because their tail can't propel them through air.
Feeding
Habit
The flying fish usually feeds during
the night time near the surface of the water. The diet of the flying fish is
mainly composed of plankton. Plankton consists of tiny animals, plants, and
bacteria. In addition to avoiding predators, certain species of flying fish
scoop up prey with their extended lower jaw while gliding above the surface of
the water.
Predators
Flying
fish are thought to have evolved this remarkable gliding ability to escape
predators, of which they have many. Once
in the air, though, they sometimes become food for birds. They are pursued by a
wide variety of oceanic predators, including dolphins and porpoises, tuna,
squids, seabirds, swordfish, marlins, and pretty much any other carnivorous
fish larger than them. Human predation is not as significant in their case as
it is in other commercially important fishes, but they are considered a
delicacy in numerous cuisines, including China, Japan, Korea (both), Indonesia,
Vietnam, India, the Caribbean -- particularly Barbados, and all across Oceania.
It is interesting that young flying fish may have filaments protruding from
their lower jaws that camouflage them as plant blossoms.
Flying fish are attracted
to light, like a number of sea creatures, and fishermen take advantage of this
with substantial results. Canoes, filled with enough water to sustain fish, but
not enough to allow them to propel themselves out, are affixed with a luring
light at night to capture flying fish by the dozens. There is currently no
protection status on these animals.
Cuisine
The national dish of Barbados consists of a local concoction known as ‘cou-cou’ and flying fish. Apart from Barbados, flying fish is a valued seafood across the Eastern coast of Asia, and is commercially fished from Japan to India. Japanese cuisine primarily uses dried fish and the roe (fish eggs) of flying fishes, in a dish known as ‘tobiko’. It is also an important food in Taiwan, particularly on Orchid Island, where it is the staple.
The national dish of Barbados consists of a local concoction known as ‘cou-cou’ and flying fish. Apart from Barbados, flying fish is a valued seafood across the Eastern coast of Asia, and is commercially fished from Japan to India. Japanese cuisine primarily uses dried fish and the roe (fish eggs) of flying fishes, in a dish known as ‘tobiko’. It is also an important food in Taiwan, particularly on Orchid Island, where it is the staple.
Some
amazing facts of Flying fish
Here are some more interesting
flying fish facts:
o The flying fish is the national fish
of Barbados. The country of Barbados was once known as 'The Land of the Flying
Fish'. The flying fish appears on coins, and there are several sculptures of
the flying fish in Barbados.
- The flying fish feeds in the night to avoid predators.
- Due to this fish’s popularity in recent years, three ships of US navy named USS flying fish to honour this fish!
o One
of the interesting facts is that flying fish was used to develop airplane in
1900’s to 1930’s. This represents the fact that the flying fish has its part in
the revolutionary history of airplane developing!
o The
largest record of flying fish was in air for 45 seconds!
o The California flying fish, the
largest flying fish, tops out at 18 inches! However, young flying fishes do not
resemble adults. Juveniles have a colourful appearance and long whiskers at the
side of their mouth. They resemble the flowers and blossoms of the Barringtonia
plant, commonly known as ‘corn beef wood’, which provides them a natural
camouflage!
o The eyes of flying fishes are, proportionate
to their body size, quite large, and flat. This gives them good vision both in
and out of water. As they are attracted to light, this trait helps the fishermen
in the Solomon Islands who catch flying fish at dark nights, using torches to
induce the fish to jump out, and then catching them in midair.
o Any trips to tropical and temperate
coasts would not be complete without venturing out to sea to spot these weird and
wonderful creatures!
