Smallhead Flyingfish, Cheilopogon pinnatibarbatus
Smallhead Flyingfish, Cheilopogon pinnatibarbatus. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater San Diego area, San Diego, California, September 2014. Length: 40 cm (16 inches).
The Smallhead Flyingfish, Cheilopogon pinnatibarbatus, is a member of the Flyingfish or Exocoetidae Family, and is known in Mexico as volador cabecita. Globally, there are twenty-four species in the genus Cheilopogon, of which nine are found in Mexican waters, four in the Atlantic and five in the Pacific Ocean.
The Smallhead Flyingfish has an elongated slender cylindrical body. They are blue-green dorsally and silvery ventrally. Their fins are clear, except that their dorsal fin has 1 large dark spot and their pectoral fins are dark gray with a wide clear border. They have a short head, a short snout, and a small mouth equipped with small teeth with 1 point on both jaws. Their anal fin originates under the third dorsal ray and has 9 to 12 rays; their caudal fin is deeply forked with a longer lower lobe; their dorsal fin has 9 to 13 rays; and their pectoral fins are long and reach the caudal fin base; and, their pelvic fins are long and almost reach the anal fin base; their origin is closer to the gill cover than the caudal fin base. Juveniles have a complex fan-like barbel with 14 flaps. They are covered with large smooth scales. Their lateral line is low on the body.
The Smallhead Flyingfish is an oceanic pelagic species normally found on the surface to depths of 11 m (35 feet); they frequent coastal waters more regularly than other flyingfish. They reach a maximum of 28 cm (19 inches) in length. They feed on planktonic organisms and small fish. In turn they are preyed upon by birds, dolphins, dorado, marlins, porpoises, squid, and tuna. They have large pectoral fins and are capable of leaping and gliding considerable distances above the ocean surface. Reproduction is oviparous with the release of large sticky filaments that attach to floating or benthic weeds. The Smallhead Flyingfish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Smallhead Flyingfish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean and are an atypical flyingfish being found in colder water environments with a limited distribution residing only along the west coast of Baja, in the southern third of the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the mainland south to Mazatlán, Sinaloa.
The Smallhead Flyingfish can be confused with several flyingfish including the Blackwing Flyingfish, Hirundichthys rondeletii, the Bladewing Flyingfish, Hirundichthys marginatus, the Butterfly Flyingfish, Cheilopogon papilio, the Narrowhead Flyingfish, Cypselurus angusticeps, the Panamic Flyingfish, Prognichthys tringa, and the Sailor Flyingfish, Prognichthys sealei, however it is the only species with pectoral fins that extend to the caudal base.
From a conservation perspective the Smallhead Flyingfish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are small in stature, seldom seen by humans and is of limited interest to most.