Prognichthys brevipinnis, Shortfin flyingfish : fisheries

Prognichthys brevipinnis (Valenciennes, 1847)

Shortfin flyingfish
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Prognichthys brevipinnis   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Prognichthys brevipinnis (Shortfin flyingfish)
Prognichthys brevipinnis
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Beloniformes (Needle fishes) > Exocoetidae (Flyingfishes)
Etymology: Prognichthys: Taken from Progne, name of Philomela´s sister, transformed into a swallow in the Greek mithology + Greek, ichthys = fish (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: Not a true eponym, Progne (sometimes Procne – see above) was metamorphosed into a swallow. Pliny likened flyingfish to the swallow, and the genus name can be translated as ‘swallow-fish’. (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Valenciennes.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; pelagic-neritic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 20 m. Tropical

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific: East Africa to Okinawa, Palau, and Fiji.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 19.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9839)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10 - 11; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 8 - 10.
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Usually found in neritic surface waters (Ref. 9839), rare in the open ocean (Ref. 30573). Capable of leaping out of the water and gliding above the surface (Ref. 30573).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Parin, Nikolay V. | Collaborators

Parin, N.V., 1996. On the species composition of flying fishes (Exocoetidae) in the West-Central part of tropical Pacific. J. Ichthyol. 36(5):357-364. (Ref. 27313)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |