It's a bird? It's a plane? It's a fish! These "flying" aquatic creatures have fins that look like a bird's wings, and flying fish can actually leap out of the water, spread their fins and glide for up to a quarter of a mile! Adult flying fish do this to escape from enemies; young flying fish, not yet able to stay airborne for long, use clever disguises to avoid danger.
Plant Life: Young flying fish are much more colorful than adults, making them look much like blooming flowers when they spread their wide fins. Passing predators don't look twice at these "plants" when searching for a meal.
Winging It: Flying fish have pectoral (side) fins that seem way too long for their bodies, and look more like the wings of a bird when the fish spread them out. Some species (such as the one illustrated above) have four "wings", with a smaller set behind the main pair.
Come Fly With Us[]
These fish accelerate underwater, then break the surface and sail for hundreds of feet.
As their name implies, these fish can fly. Well, sort of. When being chased by predators, such as marlin, swordfish or tuna, flying fish rocket for the surface. The fish pick up speed and shoot out of the water in leaps up to three feet high. When in the air, the fish spread their huge pectoral fins, lock them into position and hold them perfectly steady to glide above the ocean. Flying fish can soar for up to one-quarter of a mile at up to 30 miles per hour!
Rear Motor: To gain more momentum when preparing to "fly," these fish flap their forked tails furiously. When they break the surface, this helps them gain an extra foot or two of height, which extends their flight and gets them father away from their attackers.
Safety in Numbers: Flying fish try to avoid being chased by predators in the first place by swimming in large groups, called shoals. Members of the shoal alert each other to danger; they're found in areas that are rich in plankton and algae, which is what the fish eat.
Grounded Gurnard[]
The gurnard looks like it could fly, but this fish stays submerged on the ocean floor.
Like the flying fish, the flying gurnard also has extremely wide pectoral fins. Despite its name, the flying gurnard doesn't fly or glide above the water. It stays near the ocean floor, and spreads its fins when disturbed to make enemies think it's bigger than it is, and also jab them with stiff spines in its fins.
Trivia[]
- The "Safety in Numbers" section is missing a space after the semi-colon.
- This is one of the few purely saltwater fish not included in Monsters of the Deep, along with Barracudas, Sea Lamprey, Stingrays, Mudskipper, Seahorses, Leafy Sea Dragon, Clownfish, and Remora.
- The flying gurnard is also mentioned on the Tripodfish's knowledge card.
- The Spotted Eagle Ray knowledge card compares the ray's methods of leaping out of the water to the flying fish.
- The flying fish is featured in Eat or Be Eaten on Monster Mania 62.