What is Flying fish?
{{Taxobox | name = Flyingfish | image = sailfin flyingfish.jpg | image_width = 180px | image_caption = Sailfin flying-fish<br />''Parexocoetus brachypterus'' | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] | classis = [[Actinopterygii]] | ordo = [[Beloniformes]] | familia = '''Exocoetidae'''}} [[File:Cheilopogon melanurusPCCA20070623-3956B.jpg|Atlantic flying fish|thumb]] [[File:Band-wing flyingfish.jpg|thumb|right|[[Cheilopogon|Band-winged flying fish]], with enlarged [[pectoral fin]]s]] '''Flying fish''' are [[Marine biology|marine]] oceanic fishes of the family '''Exocoetidae'''. They are over 50 species, and they live worldwide in warm [[water]]s. They can [[glide]] in the air just above the water.<ref>Piper, Ross 2007. ''Extraordinary animals: an encyclopedia of curious and unusual animals'', Greenwood Press.</ref> They are all small, with a maximum length of about 45 cm (18 inches), and have [[wing]]like, rigid fins and an unevenly forked tail. They do not fly actively: their fins do not flap. What they do is speed towards the surface and keep on going. When they leave the water they glide, sometimes for a surprising distance. It is generally thought to be an [[adaptation]] which helps them escape predators. The glides are usually up to {{Convert|30|-|50|m|-1}} in length. Some have been observed soaring for hundreds of metres using the updraft on the leading edges of waves. The fish can also make a series of glides, each time dipping the tail into the water to produce forward thrust. The longest recorded series of glides, with the fish only periodically dipping its tail in the water, was for 45 seconds.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7410421.stm BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Fast flying fish glides by ferry<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> It has been suggested that the genus ''[[Exocoetus]]'' is on an evolutionary borderline between flight and gliding. It flaps its enlarged [[pectoral fin]]s when airborne, but still seems only to glide, as there is no hint of a power stroke.<ref nam