Genus: Oxyporhamphus, False Halfbeak, Flying Halfbeaks
lower jaw slightly projecting (juvenile - short beak)
gill rakers 30-35
pectoral ~1/3 SL, 11-13
OXYPORHAMPHUS
FLYING HALFBEAKS
Elongate, broadly cylindrical body; head short, snout short and blunt; mouth small, top jaw short, triangular, lower jaw slightly projecting in adult, extending into a short beak in juvenile; gill rakers 30-35; fins without spines; pectorals of moderate length, ~1/3 SL, reaching to origin of pelvic fins, 11-13 rays; pelvics short, their origin nearer anal origin than pectoral base; tail strongly forked, but lower lobe only slightly larger than upper lobe in adult (more asymmetric in juvenile); lateral line low on the body; scales large, smooth, easily shed.
A circumtropical genus, except for the central Pacific, with two species. The Atlantic species is present in the Greater Caribbean.
