Beautyfin Flyingfish, Cypselurus callopterus
Beautyfin Flyingfish, Cypselurus callopterus. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, November 2012. Length: 15 cm (5.9 inches).
The Beautyfin Flyingfish, Cypselurus callopterus, is a member of the Flyingfish or Exocoetidae Family, that is also known as the Ornamental Flyingfish and in Mexico as volador bonito. Globally, there are twelve species in the genus Cypselurus, of which two are found in Mexican waters, both in the Pacific Ocean.
The Beautyfin Flyingfish has an elongated cylindrical body. They are dark blue to blackish dorsally and silvery ventrally. Their anal fin is pale gray, their caudal fin is dark gray, and their pectoral and pelvic fins are yellow-brown with numerous black spots. They have a short head with a short blunt snout that is much shorter than the eye diameter. Their mouth is small with a limited number of small teeth and their lower jaw is a little shorter than their upper jaw. Their anal fin has 8 to 10 rays and originates under the middle of the dorsal fin; their caudal fin is deeply forked with the lower lobe being significantly larger than the upper lobe; their dorsal fin has 11 or 12 rays; and, their pectoral fins are set high on the body and are extremely long reaching beyond the anal fin origin and past the mid-point of the dorsal fin. They are covered with large smooth scales. Their lateral line is low on the body.
The Beautyfin Flyingfish is an oceanic pelagic species found on the surface to depths up to 5 m (17 feet). They reach a maximum of 28 cm (11 inches) in length. They feed on planktonic organisms and small fish. In turn they are preyed upon by birds, dolphins, dorado, marlins, porpoises, squid, and tuna. They have large pectoral fins and are capable of leaping and gliding considerable distances above the ocean surface. Reproduction is oviparous with the release of large sticky filaments that attach to floating or benthic weeds. The Beautyfin Flyingfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Beautyfin Flyingfish is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Pacific with the exception that they are absent from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, northward along the central and northwest coasts of Baja and from the northern half of the Sea of Cortez.
The Beautyfin Flyingfish is easy to identify and cannot be confused with any other species due to the unique striping of its wings.
From a conservation perspective the Beautyfin Flyingfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are seldom seen by humans and due their rarity, they are of limited value and interest to most.