Mirrorwing flyingfish

Hirundichthys speculiger

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–4,994 m
Water temperature15–30 °C
Best monthsFebruary
How commonOccasional

About this species

The mirrorwing flyingfish is a flying fish of the family Exocoetidae. It was first described by the French zoologist, Achille Valenciennes in a 22-volume work titled Histoire naturelle des poissons, which was a collaboration with Georges Cuvier.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Mirrorwing 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: 17 records
February: 37 records
March: 7 records
April: 5 records
May: 8 records
June: 8 records
July: 8 records
August: 11 records
September: 7 records
October: 6 records
November: 19 records
December: 2 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–4,994 m · Deepest record: 4,996 m

0–10 m: 4 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 17 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–30 °C

14–16 °C: 3 records
16–18 °C: 1 records
18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 5 records
22–24 °C: 8 records
24–26 °C: 26 records
26–28 °C: 90 records
28–30 °C: 25 records

Names and classification

English: Mirrorwing flyingfish, Mirrorwing flying-fish, Black-finned Flying-fish, Cuvier's Flying Fish, Flyingfish, Mirror-finned Flying-fish, Mirrorfinned Flying-fish, mirrorwing flying-fish, mirrorwing flyingfish, Mirrorwing flying fish, Mirrorwing Flyingfish

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: Pez Volador, volador espejo, Volador espejo
French: Exocet miroir, Exocet miroir, Poisson volant, Poisson-volant à ailes bordées, Poisson volant, Poisson-volant à ailes bordées
Japanese: Ninojitobiuo, ニノジトビウオ
Simplified Chinese: 尖鰭文鰩魚, 尖鰭細身飛魚, 細身飛魚, 飛烏

Other scientific names: Cypselurus hyperistius, Cypselurus speculiger, Cypsilurus speculiger, Exocoetus hyperistius, Exocoetus nigripennis, Exocoetus nigripinnis, Exocoetus polleni, Exocoetus speculiger

Similar species

Bony Flyingfish
Hirundichthys oxycephalus
Barbel flyingfish
Exocoetus monocirrhus
Flying fish
Exocoetus volitans
Sailfin flyingfish
Parexocoetus brachypterus
African Flyingfish
Parexocoetus mento
Abe's Flyingfish
Cheilopogon abei

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).
716 open-data records from 1826 to 2024.

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