Family: EXOCOETIDAE, Flyingfishes

FAMILY EXOCOETIDAE

FLYINGFISHES

Elongate, broadly cylindrical bodies; head short, snout unusually blunt (pointed in Fodiator); mouth small, short, blunt, jaw teeth small or absent; fins without spines; dorsal and anal fins far back on body; pectorals high on sides, greatly enlarged (reach back past dorsal fin origin) as wings; pelvics on abdomen, well behind pectoral base, greatly enlarged in some species; tail deeply forked with a much longer lower lobe; lateral line low on the body; scales large, smooth, easily shed.

The family occurs in all warm seas and contains nine genera and about 65 species. We include those species that can be found within ~50 km of the shore in the Greater Caribbean, 14 species in 9 genera.