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’. Alvin Seale (1871–1958) was an ichthyologist and designer of aquaria. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 20 m. Tropical
Indo-West Pacific: East Africa to Samoa, but not in Red Sea, Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Eastern Central Pacific: off the coast of Central America (Ref. 9033). Probably absent in inland seas of southeast Asia.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 19.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9839)
Found in oceanic surface waters. Leaps out of the water and glides for considerable distances above the surface.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
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)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: of no interest
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