Flying Fish
Exocoetidae
A fin-winged escape artist that glides above the waves.
Flying fish do not flap through the sky like birds; they launch from the sea and glide. Oversized fins turn a high-speed escape from predators into a breathtaking flight.
Find this SeaPal in the card gallery
From field guide to game table
Bring this Flying Fish home
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- 1 copy
Ready-to-play deck
Open Ocean Deck
Includes 1 card featuring Flying Fish.
Quick dive
Creature passport
- Home
- More than 40 species live near the surface of warm oceans worldwide.
- Favorite foods
- They eat plankton, small crustaceans, and other tiny drifting food.
- Size check
- Most under 12 in; some to 18 in (46 cm)—about a skateboard
Tell-your-friends facts
Four wonderfully wild things
- 1
The longer lower half of the tail provides the final push for takeoff.
- 2
Some species have enlarged pelvic fins and seem to have four wings.
- 3
Flying fish may touch the tail back down and relaunch without ending a glide.
- 4
Their eggs often have sticky threads that cling to floating material.
Ocean superpower
Built to be amazing
Wing-like fins carry a speeding fish hundreds of feet above the water.
Junior scientist tip
What should I look for?
Watch for a torpedo-shaped fish with enormous pointed pectoral fins.
Grown-up research links
We used trusted science organizations to check this profile.