Oxyporhamphus micropterus
Smallwing Flyingfish
NS
GNR
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Beloniformes
Hemiramphidae (Halfbeaks)
Oxyporhamphus
Oxyporhamphus micropterus (Smallwing Flyingfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: elongated. Adults with a single large chamber to the swim bladder. Average number of gill rakers on the first arch, 30.7; predorsal scales, 31.1 on the average. Branchiostegal rays: 11-14 (Ref. 36576). Striking features: striking type of mouth.
Distribution
Indo-Pacific: East Africa to Tonga, north to southern Japan (Ref. 33390). Eastern Pacific: Mexico to Peru (Ref. 9306). Replaced in the Atlantic by Oxyporhamphus similis.
Habitat Associations
Marine. pelagic-oceanic. depth range 0-1 m.
Biology
A true oceanic species, not bound to coastal waters at any period of its life (Ref. 9843).This species is the only halfbeak which doesn't have an extended lower jaw at the adult phase (Ref. 9306). Oviparous, with planktonic eggs and larvae (Ref. 36576).
Max length: 18.5 cm SL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders. Oviparous (Ref. 36576).
IUCN Red List Status: N.E. (N.E.). Resilience: High (K=1.0).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: bycatch.
References
Collette, B.B. (1986) Hemiramphidae. p. 388-391. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Lipskaya, N.Y. (1987) Feeding of flyingfish (Exocoetidae) larvae and fingerlings in the region of the Peruvian upwelling. J. Ichthyol. 27(3):108-116.
Collette, B.B. (1999) Hemiramphidae. Halfbeaks. p. 2180-2196. In K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Vol. 4. Bony fishes part 2 (Mugilidae to Carangidae). FAO, Rome.
Collette, B.B. and J. Su (1986) The halfbeaks (Pisces, Beloniformes, Hemiramphidae) of the Far East. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 138(1):250-301.
Fricke, R. (1999) Fishes of the Mascarene Islands (Réunion, Mauritius, Rodriguez): an annotated checklist, with descriptions of new species. Koeltz Scientific Books, Koenigstein, Theses Zoologicae, Vol. 31:759 p.
Watson, W. (1996) Hemiramphidae: halfbeaks. p. 634-641. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 1505 p.
Mundy, B.C. (2005) Checklist of the fishes of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Bishop Mus. Bull. Zool. (6):1-704.
Comments On Oxyporhamphus micropterus