Are there really flying fish in the world?

Flying fish is a kind of fish that lives in the upper ocean, and it is the object that all kinds of fierce fish compete for prey. Flying fish will not easily jump out of the water. Only when attacked by the enemy or stimulated by the vibration of the ship engine can this skill be used. However, this move is not absolutely safe. Sometimes when it flies in the air, it is often caught by seabirds flying in the air, or falls on an island, or hits a reef and dies. Sometimes it will land on the deck of a sailboat and become a delicacy on people's table. This often happens at night, because flying fish have keen eyesight during the day and often fly blindly at night.

A general term for fishes of the family sarcophagidae. There are 8 genera and 50 species. Short and thick, slightly flat on the side; The kiss is short and blunt; Both jaws have fine teeth, and some species have teeth on the plough bone, palate bone or tongue; Two pairs of nostrils, larger and close to the eyes; Large, extending backward; No pyloric caecum; The body is covered with large and round scales, which are easy to fall off and the head is covered with scales; The lateral line is low, close to the abdominal edge; The gluteal fin is located at the back of the body, opposite to the dorsal fin, and there is no fin thorn; The pectoral fin is very long, which can reach 3/4 of the body length and is wing-shaped; Some species have developed ventral fins; The caudal fin is deeply bifurcated, and the lower leaf is longer than the upper leaf; The body color is generally dark on the back, silvery white on the ventral side, and the pectoral fins are of different colors, with yellow and dark spots, or light yellow, or yellow-white edges, or stripes. It is a clustered pelagic fish in tropical and warm temperate waters, with the largest species in the Pacific Ocean, followed by the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. There are 6 genera and 38 species recorded in China and its adjacent waters. The South China Sea has the most kinds. With the help of developed shoulder straps and pectoral fins, as well as caudal fins and ventral fins, flying fish can jump out of the water and glide 100 meters above. This function enables flying fish to escape from dolphins, swordfish and other enemies. Some species have seasonal offshore migration habits, forming a fishing season. It has edible value. Made into dried fish or fresh food, delicious.

Flying fish look very strange, and their pectoral fins are particularly developed, like the wings of a bird. The long pectoral fin extends all the way to the tail, and the whole body is like a "long woven". With its streamlined graceful posture, it moves at a high speed of 100 meters per second in the sea. It can jump out of the water for more than ten meters, stay in the air for more than 40 seconds, and fly for more than 400 meters. Flying fish's back color is close to seawater, and they often move on the surface of seawater. On the blue sea, flying fish are hidden from time to time, and the scene of breaking waves is spectacular, which is a beautiful landscape in the South China Sea.

The main food of flying fish in the sea is tiny plankton. Every April and May, it comes to China from the equator to breed. Its eggs are light and small, and the membrane on the surface of the eggs has filamentous protrusions, which is very suitable for hanging on seaweed. According to the spawning habits of flying fish, fishermen put many nets hundreds of meters long in the sea as the only way for flying fish to spawn. Overlapping fishing nets allow flying fish to swim into the dense Sargassum forest, and they trap themselves and lay eggs in the nets. What a good "spawning ground" the industrious and intelligent Hainan fishermen designed and arranged for flying fish in advance!

Flying fish has attracted people's interest for many years. With the development of science, high-speed photography reveals the secret of flying fish. Actually, flying fish can't fly Whenever it is ready to leave the water, it must swim at high speed in the water, with its pectoral fins close to its sides and rising smoothly like a submarine. The flying fish beat the water with its tail, and its whole body shot into the air like an arrow that left the string. After jumping out of the water, it spread its long and bright pectoral fins and ventral fins and glided forward quickly. Its "wings" do not flap, but rely on the driving force of its tail to make a short "flight" in the air. Careful observation shows that the second half of the tail fin of flying fish is not only very long, but also very hard. So the caudal fin is the "engine" of its "flight". If the tail fin of flying fish is cut off and put back into the sea, there will be no pectoral muscles as developed as birds, and those broken-tailed flying fish who can't fly by wings can only spend their lives in obscurity in the sea with the regret that they can't fly anymore!

As the saying goes, "the sea is wide and the fish jumps, and the sky is high and the birds fly." In fact, in the animal kingdom, there are many flying animals besides birds. Although they don't have enviable bird wings, they can also "fly", which is a natural miracle. In the vast ocean, there are many such outstanding "pilots".

People sailing in the South China Sea and the East China Sea can often see such a scene: on the deep blue sea, groups of "small planes" suddenly leap out, flying like birds, and the scene is spectacular. Sometimes, when they are flying, they will land on the deck of a motorboat or a ship, so that the crew can "take advantage of it." This flying fish, like a bird, is a famous flying fish in the ocean. This is a small and medium-sized fish. Because it can fly, people call it flying fish. Flying fish live in tropical, subtropical and temperate oceans, and their flying posture can be seen in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

Flying fish is a big family, belonging to the family Rayidae. There are 6 kinds of flying fish in China, such as the bow-headed ray and the pointed ray. Flying fish looks strange, and its body is almost cylindrical. Although they are not as good at flying as insects and fighting against the sky as birds, they have very developed pectoral fins, which are 2/3 of their body length and look a bit like the wings of birds, extending backwards to the tail. The ventral fin is also relatively large and can be used as an auxiliary gliding. Its tail fin is forked, and the scene of surfing on the blue sea is very cute.

Why can flying fish fly on the sea like seabirds? More precisely, the "flying" of flying fish is actually just a kind of gliding. Scientists used cameras to reveal the secret of flying fish's "flight", and found that flying fish actually took off by stirring seawater with its "flying machine" tail, instead of vibrating its long and wide pectoral fin as people thought in the past. Before flying fish come out of the water, they swim quickly under the water by adjusting the angle. When it approaches the sea surface, it will stick its pectoral fins and ventral fins to its sides. At this time, it looks like a submarine. Then, it uses its powerful tail fin to swing violently from side to side, drawing zigzag water marks, generating strong momentum, prompting the fish to suddenly breaking the surface like an arrow, and its take-off speed actually exceeds18m/s. When flying fish fly out of the water, they immediately open their long and wide pectoral fins and glide at a speed of about15m/s against the wind blowing from the sea. With the right wind, flying fish can fly 200 ~ 400 meters in the air 4 ~ 5 meters above the water surface, making it the farthest fish in the world. Someone once measured the best flight record of flying fish in the tropical Atlantic Ocean: the flight time is 90 seconds, the flight altitude is10.97m, and the flight distance is1109.5m.. When the flying fish returns to the water, if it needs to take off again, it will beat the waves with its tail before entering the water to increase the gliding power and make it jump out of the water again and continue its short gliding flight. Obviously, the "wings" of the flying fish did not flap, but only made a short "flight" in the air by the driving force of the tail. Someone has done such an experiment, cutting off the tail fin of a flying fish and putting it back into the sea. Because it doesn't have developed chest muscles like birds, it can't flap its wings, and flying fish with broken tail fins can't fly anymore.

Barbados is a coral island at the eastern end of the Caribbean, which is famous for its rich flying fish. There are nearly 100 species of flying fish here. The small flying fish is only as big as the palm of your hand, and the big one is more than 2 meters long. According to local people, this flying fish can jump out of the water about 400 meters high and glide in the air as far as 3,000 meters. Obviously this statement is too exaggerated. But flying fish is indeed a specialty of Barbados and a symbol of this beautiful island country. Many entertainment places and tourist facilities are named after flying fish, and the dishes made of flying fish are one of the famous dishes in Barbados. Standing on the beach and looking around, breaking the waves, a shuttle-shaped flying fish shuttled across the sea and flew against the snow-white waves. Colorful "parabolas" are like beautiful fountains, which are dizzying. The ever-changing landscape is beautiful and spectacular and unforgettable for a long time. Visitors can not only enjoy the spectacle of "flying fish beating waves" here, but also get a beautifully made flying fish commemorative medal. Barbados was thus nicknamed "Flying Fish Island".

Why do flying fish "fly"? Marine biologists believe that flying fish fly mostly to escape the chase of large fish such as tuna and swordfish, or because ships are frightened when they approach. The big family of marine fish is not always calm. Flying fish is a small and medium-sized fish living in the upper ocean, and it is the prey of fierce fish such as sharks, flowers, tuna and swordfish. In the long-term competition for survival, flying fish have formed a very clever skill of avoiding enemy harm and jumping into the water to fly, so they can leave the dangerous sea area temporarily. Therefore, flying fish will not easily jump out of the water. Only when attacked by the enemy or stimulated by the vibration of the ship engine can this skill be used. But sometimes, flying fish will jump out of the water because of excitement or reproduction, and sometimes flying fish will take off for no reason. Of course, flying fish, a special way of "self-defense", is not absolutely reliable. Flying fish flying in the sea, although escaping the attack of the enemy in the sea, often become the "food in the mouth" of seabirds waiting for their prey at sea, such as "warship birds". This is how flying fish jump out of the water for a while and dive into the sea for a while to avoid enemies in the sea or in the air. Flying fish have phototaxis. If a lamp is hung on the deck of a ship at night, flocks of flying fish will come to look for light and fall into a trap and hit the deck. The meat of flying fish is particularly delicious and tender, and it is an excellent dish.