Flying Fish

Flying Fish, any individual of the genus Exocoetus, with 44 species, from tropical and subtropical seas, two of them - E. evolans from the Indian Ocean, and E. volitans from the Mediterranean - sometimes wandering to the British shores. They are from ten to twelve inches long, though specimens of eighteen inches are recorded, with the pectoral fins reaching in some to the anal fin, and in others to the tail. Kingsley thought that the motion of these fish through the air was true flight, and others have come to the same conclusion. It appears, however, to be a leap prolonged by the parachute-like action of the fins, which are kept distended; and any deviation from a direct oourse is clue to currents of air, not to the will of the animal. The rate of "flight" is about 10 miles an hour, but it can only be kept up for about 500 feet. [Flying Gurnard.]