Fish of the Cheilopogon genus of the Exocoetidae (flying fish) family of the Exocoetoidea superfamily of the Belonoidei suborder of the Beloniformes order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Mediterranean flyingfish. Photo by © A.M. Arias. ictioterm.es)
Mediterranean flyingfish (Cheilopogon heterurus) was first described in 1810 by the American naturalist, zoologist and botanist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840).
It is a pelagic coastal species. The maximum recorded length is 40 cm; specimens up to 15 cm long are more common. It feeds on plankton and small crustaceans.
(Mediterranean flyingfish. Photo © Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. mnhn.fr / fishbase.org)
It usually enters the Adriatic Sea from the Mediterranean Sea in late summer – early autumn, rarely swimming upstream to its northern part.
Names of Mediterranean flyingfish (Cheilopogon heterurus) in other languages are as follows:
Peshku fluturues i Mesdheut (Albanian), Χελιδονόψαρο Mεσογείου (Helidonopsaro Mesogiu) (Greek), Dag meofet (Hebrew), Juriola sin mancha (Spanish), Rondone del mare (Italian), Atlantischer Flugfisch (German), Разнохвостый длиннокрыл (Raznokhvostiy dlinnokryl) (Russian), Poletuša mediteranska, Poletuša pepeljuša (Serbian, Croatian), Exocet méditerranéen (French).