CO129-538-2 Hong Kong University 23-6-1932 - 15-3-1933 — Page 183

270

271

272

HENRY W. FOWLER

EXOCOETUS.

CYPSELURUS.

b2. Pectoral longer, reaches caudal base. a2. Ventral longer, reaches beyond anal, orgin.

PAREXOCOETUS Bleeker,

Short finned Flying Fishes.

Parexocoetus Bleeker, Nederl. Tijds. Dierk., vol. 3, 1866, p. 126. Type Exocoetus mento Valenciennes, monotypic.

Body moderately long, elliptical in cross section. Snout short, lower jaw not produced. Teeth on vomer, palatines and pterygoids. Dorsal fin high. Anal long as dorsal. Pectoral short or moderate, not reaching be- yond middle of dorsal. Ventral short, not reaching anal, insertion median or postmedian.

Parexocoetus brachypterus (Richardson). Figure 16.

Exocoetus brachypterus (Solander) Richardson, Ichth. China and Japan, 1846, p. 265. Tahiti. Günther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus., vol. 6, 1866, p. 280 (China seas).-Bleeker, Nederl. Tijds. Dierk., vol. 4, 1873 (reference). Exonautes brachypterus Chu, Biol. Bull. St. John's Univers., No. 1, January 1931, p. 87 (reference).

Parexocoetus mento Bleeker, Verh. Kon. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam (fifth article), vol. 18, 1879, p. 3 (China).

Depth 41⁄2 to 5; head 34/5 to 434; eye 2% to 3, subequal with interorbital. Scales 38 to 42 in lateral line, 17 to 19 predorsal. Dorsa! rays 12 or 13, longest reaching caudal; anal 13 or 14, long as dorsal; pectoral 178 to 21⁄2 in body, reaches first dorsal rays; ventral origin midway between nostils or front eye edge and caudal base. Dark blue on back, silvery white below. Dorsal black above, other fins pale. Sometimes caudal and paired fins with pinkish tinge. Young with large dark lateral spots. Length

186 mm.

A Synopsis of the Fishes of China

EXOCOETUS Linnaeus.

Flying Fishes.

273

Exocoetus Linnacus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, pt. 1, 1758, p. 316, Type Exocoetus evolans Lannaeus=Exocoetus volitans Linnaeus, monotypic.

Body moderately long, cross section partly quadrate. Snout short, blunt. Lower jaw but little projecting. Teeth present or absent on vomer or palatines, none on pterygoids. Dorsal not elevated. Anal opposite and nearly long as dorsal. Pectoral very long, reaches caudal base. Ventral premedian, nearer snout than caudal, short, not reaching anal base.

Exocoetus volitans Linnaeus. Figure 17.

Exocoetus volitans Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, pt. 1, 1758, p. 316. Pelagic in high seas of Europe and America.

Exocactus volans Richardsnon, Ichth. China and Japan, 1846, p. 264. Seas of China and Polynesia.

? Exocaetus monocirrhus Richardson, Ichth. China and Japan, 1846, p. 265. Sea of China.

Exocoetus monocirrhus Günther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus., vol. 6, 1866, p. 279 (compiled.-Bleeker, Nederl. Tijds. Dierk., vol. 4, 1873, p. 149 (reference).

? Exocoetus apus Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., vol. 19, 1846, p. Seas of China near Macao.-Bleeker, Nederl. Tijds. Dierk., vol. 4, 1873, p. 149 (reference).

107.

Exocoetus evolans Günther, Cat. Fishes Brit. Mus., vol. 6, 1866, p. 282 (China Seas).-Bleeker, Nederl. Tijds. Dierk., vol. 4, 1873, P. 149 (reference).

Exocoetus obtusirostris Blecker, Verh. Kon. Akad. Wet. Amsterdam (fifth article), vol. 18, 1879, p. 3 (Shanghai).

H.W.F

A.W.F

Figure 16. Parexococtus brachypterus (Richardson),

China seas. (Red Sea, Natal, India, East Indies, Philippines, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Hawaii*. Also in the Atlantic*).

The Hong Kong Naturalist.

Figure 17. Exocoetus volitans Linnacus.

Depth 5 to 6; head 3 4/5 to 4; snout 4% to 44; cye 3 to 4 in head, 11⁄2 in interorbital. Gill rakers 7 or 8 +24 or 25. Scales 40 to 47 in lateral line, 24 or 25 predorsal. Dorsal rays 13 to 16, anal 12 or 13 pectoral nearly

December 1932,