Fish Locomotion - Flying

Flying

See also: flying fish and flying and gliding animals

The transition of predominantly swimming locomotion directly to flight has evolved in a single family of marine fish called Exocoetidae. Flying fish are not true fliers in the sense that they do not execute powered flight. Instead, these species glide directly over the surface of the ocean water without ever flapping their "wings." Flying fish have evolved abnormally large pectoral fins that act as airfoils and provide lift when the fish launches itself out of the water. Additional forward thrust and steering forces are created by dipping the hypocaudal (i.e. bottom) lobe of their caudal fin into the water and vibrating it very quickly, in contrast to diving birds in which these forces are produced by the same locomotor module used for propulsion. Of the 64 extant species of flying fish, only two distinct body plans exist, each of which optimizes two different behaviors.

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Famous quotes containing the word flying:

    “The sea was wet as wet could be,
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    You could not see a cloud, because
    No cloud was in the sky:
    No birds were flying overhead—
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    —Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)

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    —Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Monty Python’s Flying Circus (TV series)

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    —Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929)