Spotfin flyingfish
Cheilopogon furcatus
- Usual depth0–4,545 m
- Water temperature9–29 °C
- Best monthsJuly, August, and October
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Ingvild Riska, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The spotfin flyingfish is a fish in the flying fish family, Exocoetidae.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Spotfin flyingfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
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Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 2 records
- February: 16 records
- March: 3 records
- April: 5 records
- May: 14 records
- June: 13 records
- July: 21 records
- August: 22 records
- September: 17 records
- October: 27 records
- November: 11 records
- December: 15 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–4,545 m · Deepest record: 4,996 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 9–29 °C
Photos
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Charlotte Kirchner, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Ingvild Riska, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Dylan Liu, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Spotfin flyingfish, Doublebearded Flyingfish, Flyingfish, Fourwing Flyingfish, spotfin flyingfish, Spotfin Flyingfish
Names in 5 more languages
- Spanish
- Pez Volador, Pez Volador de Aleta Manchada, volador ala manchada, Volador de Alas Punteadas, Volador Manchado
- Filipino
- Iliw
- French
- exocet à nageoires tachetées, exocet tacheté, Exocet tacheté, Exocet à nageoires tachetées, Poissons Volant
- Japanese
- Shirofuchitobiuo, オオメナツトビ, シロフチトビウオ
- Thai
- ปลานกกระจอกปีกเหลือง
Other scientific names: Cheilopogon antoncichi, Cheliopogon furcatus, Cypselurus antoncichi, Cypselurus furcatus, Cypsilurus furcatus, Exocetus nuttallii, Exocoetus furcatus, Exocoetus nuttalii
Similar species
Abe's FlyingfishCheilopogon abei
- Bearhead Flyingfish
Cheilopogon arcticeps
- Intermediate Flyingfish
Cheilopogon intermedius
- Blacksail flyingfish
Cheilopogon nigricans
- Lesser Spotted Flying-fish
Cheilopogon spilopterus
- Sutton's Flyingfish
Cheilopogon suttoni
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 495 open-data records from 1815 to 2024.
- Species data updated October 26, 2026.
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