Cypselurus poecilopterus ( Valenciennes, 1847 )

Shakhovskoy, Ilia B. & Parin, Nikolay V., 2022, A review of the flying fish genus Cypselurus (Beloniformes: Exocoetidae). Part 2. Revision of the subgenus Poecilocypselurus Bruun, 1935 with descriptions of three new species and five new subspecies and reinstatement of Exocoetus apus Valenciennes and E. neglectus Bleeker, Zootaxa 5117 (1), pp. 1-109 : 5-6

Cypselurus poecilopterus ( Valenciennes, 1847)

Synonymy and bibliography.

Exocoetus poecilopterus Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1847: 112–113, fig. 561 (original description; New Britain). Bleeker 1852: 3–5 (listed; Sunda-Moluccan Archipelago). Bleeker 1865: 108, 118 (description (after Valenciennes 1847); Banda, Indonesia). Bleeker 1866 –1872: 68, 74, Tab. CCLI Pl. Scombres V fig. 5 (description (after Günther 1866); Banda). Günther 1910: 368 (short description; West Pacific). Bruun 1937: 184 (description of type). Collette et al. 1997: 12 (description of type).

Cypsilurus poecilopterus . Jordan & Seale 1906: 210 (short description; Oceania; in part). Weber & de Beaufort 1922: 179–180, 186–187, fig. 63 (description; Indo-Australian Archipelago).

Cypselurus poecilopterus . Fowler 1928: 83 (short description (after Weber & de Beaufort 1922); in part: Samoa). Fowler 1934: 393 (listed; Oceania). Seale 1935: 347 (short description; Bellona I.). Martin 1938: 178 (fishery; Cebu, Philippines). Herre 1953: 163 (listed; Philippines). Abe 1954: 984–990, Pl. 196 (description, distribution; West Pacific). Chandy 1954: 179 (comparison with Cypselurus spilopterus (Valenciennes) (= Cheilopogon suttoni (Whitley & Colefax)) . Matsubara 1955: 399 (in key). Munro 1957: 58 (short description; Australia (Northern Territory )). Munro 1958: 138 (listed; New Guinea). Parin 1960a: 221, 228–231, 278–279, 281, fig. 9 (description; North-West Pacific). Parin 1960b: 156 (distribution; West and Central Pacific; in part). Parin 1961b: 99, 102, 112, 117–118, 129, 138, 166; figs. 1f, 8h, 19f, 36 (morphology, systematics). Parin 1962: 225–229 (distribution). Parin 1963: 134 (distribution; Indian and Pacific oceans). Munro 1967: 117, 120, Pl. 12 fig. 186 (short description; New Guinea). Parin 1967: 51–52 (distribution, biology). Mai & Bui 1978: 251, 258–259, 261 (morphometry, distribution; Vietnam). Cheng & Yang 1979: 71 (description, figure: South China Sea). Kovalevskaya 1980: 224 (listed). Fedoryako 1982: 111 (juveniles listed as associated with drifting objects; Indo-Pacific). Parin & Astakhov 1982: 284 (lateral line system). Parin 1984: EXOC Cyp 12 (description, figures, distribution; western Indian Ocean). Wass 1984: 8 (listed: Samoa). Hutomo & Burhanuddin 1985: 28–30 (listed; Indonesia). Heemstra & Parin 1986: 393 (in key; probable in South Africa). Chen 1987: 13, 19, 23, 25, 52, 151, figs. 3-12, 3-33G, 3-34E, 4-6, 6-9, 6-20, Tabs. 2-1, 3-1, 4-6 (description, distribution, early life history stages; North-West Pacific). Fedoryako 1989a: 234 (listed as associated with drifting objects). Fedoryako 1989b: 566, 568 (listed). Paxton et al. 1989: 333 (listed; Australia). Russell & Houston 1989: 80 (listed; Arafura Sea). Winterbottom et al. 1989: 15 (listed; Chagos Archipelago). Fujita 1990: 339 (osteology: caudal skeleton). Gillett & Ianelli 1991: 3 (listed; in part: Tonga). Belyanina 1993: 116–118, fig. 3 (early life history stages; eastern Australia). Dalzell 1993: 22–23, 27, fig. 2 (fishery; Camotes Sea, Philippines). Gillett & Ianelli 1993: 178 (listed; Pacific Islands). Lakshminaraina 1993: 25–26, fig. 3d (short description, distribution; “Indian Seas”). Randall & Anderson 1993: 9 (listed; Maldive Is.). Nguyen & Nguyen 1994: 152 (Central Vietnam). Parin 1996: 302, 306 [359, 363] (distribution; West-Central tropical Pacific). Sommer et al. 1996: 165 (short description, figure; Somalia). Jayawardane & Dayaratne 1998: 24–25 (catches; Kandakuliya, Sri Lanka). Fricke 1999: 121 (listed; Mascarene Is.). Parin 1999: 2165, 2175 (distribution, diagnostic characters, figure; Western-Central Pacific). Burgess et al. 2000: 99, pl. 55A (keeping in aquariums). Parin 2000: 600 (listed; South China Sea). Vinh 2001: 14, 17 (listed; Vietnam). Syahailatua 2004: 3 (listed; Indonesia). Barman & Mishra 2006: 3, 11, 14–15 (description, figure (after Abe 1954); India). Paxton et al. 2006: 728 (distribution; Australia). Syahailatua 2006: 24 (listed; Makassar, Ambon, Kep. Kei). Syahailatua et al. 2006: 262–263 (listed; eastern Indonesia). De Croos 2009a: 4–6, fig. 2 (fishery; NW Sri Lanka; in part?). De Croos 2009b: 15–27, figs. 2b, 4 (gillnet selectivity; NW Sri Lanka; in part). Fricke et al. 2009: 30 (listed; Reunion, Mauritius, Rodriguez). Syahailatua et al. 2009: 42 (listed; Ambon). Shakhovskoy & Parin 2010: 581–602 [559–579], figs. 1–3, 6–10 (description, osteology, morphometry, distribution; Indo-Pacific). Fricke et al. 2011: 370 (listed; New Caledonia). Mohapatra et al. 2012: 119–120, fig. 1 (short description; India (21°61’N 87°53’E )). Gonzales 2013: 40 (listed, photo; Palawan, Philippines). Larson et al. 2013: 67 (listed; Australia (Northern Territory )). White et al. 2013: 98, fig. 28.8 (short description; Indonesia). Emperua et al. 2017: 440–441, fig. 5 (fisheries; Philippines (Sarangani Prov. )). Shakhovskoy 2018: 56–59, 64–67, 78, figs. 14–15, 18, S4 (distribution according to oceanographic factors). Gomez et al. 2019: 548–553, fig. 1a (fishery, reproductive biology; west coast of Surigao del Norte, Philippines). Indrayani et al., 2020: 3–4, fig. 3 (Makassar Strait).

Maculocoetus poecilopterus . Fowler 1949: 59 (listed; Oceania; in part).

Cypselurus spilopterus (non Valenciennes). Rajan 2003: 95 (in part: only a photographed specimen 215 mm SL; Andaman and Nicobar Is.).

For an additional bibliography on the species see the account of C. poecilopterus crassus .

Probable misidentifications. Kendall & Radcliffe (1912: 86–87) reported C. poecilopterus from the eastern Pacific (18°47’S 89°26’W) but judging by fin-ray counts (D 13–14, A 12) it was not a species of Cypselurus . Pajot & Prabhakaradu (1993: 2) reported C. poecilopterus from the Coromandel Coast of India; however, it probably was a misidentification (of Cheilopogon suttoni ?) because their fish were too long for C. poecilopterus (23–35 cm). Yoshida et al. (2013: 61) described a specimen of C. poecilopterus from Thailand, but it was misidentification of a species of the genus Cheilopogon ( Ch. formosus ( Kotthaus, 1969) or Ch. spilopterus ). Tuapetel et al. (2015: 76, fig. 26) described C. poecilopterus from Ceram Sea, but judging by the photograph, it was a misidentification of Cheilopogon (Maculocoetus) sp. (most likely Ch. spilopterus ). Siu et al. (2017: 257) listed C. poecilopterus among fishes of French Polynesia, but this was probably based on misidentification of C. simus . Lobel & Lobel (2004: 68) reported C. poecilopterus from Wake Atoll; however, the authors did not provide any data in support of their identification, and misidentification of C. simus is also possible.

Holotype. The holotype of C. poecilopterus ( MNHN B-0835) was described in Bruun (1937: 184) and Collette et al. (1997: 12).

Description. For the species description see Shakhovskoy & Parin 2010.

Coloration in life. Photographs of live C. poecilopterus (in flight) are shown in Howell (2014: page 7, upper figure; page 8, lower figure; page 15, lower right figure; page 31, lower right figure): pectoral and, in smaller fish, pelvic fins are yellow with numerous black spots.

Comparative remarks. Cypselurus poecilopterus differs most strikingly from other species of Cypselurus (except C. simus and C. callopterus ) in spotted pigmentation of pectoral fins (however, see below for various pigmentation patterns in juveniles of C. poecilopterus ). The species differs from C. simus and C. callopterus in number of predorsal scales, gill rakers and vertebrae, and in values of body width, greatest body depth, interorbital width, pectoral fin length and some other characters (see Shakhovskoy & Parin 2010 for details on differences of these three species). Several species of Cheilopogon — Ch. spilopterus (Valenciennes) , Ch. suttoni (Whitley & Colefax) , Ch. atrisignis (Jenkins) , Ch. pitcairnensis (Nichols & Breder) , Ch. rapanouiensis Parin and Ch. formosus (Kotthaus) —also have spots on pectoral fins and may be confused with C. poecilopterus . However, these species of Cheilopogon may be distinguished by a longer lower jaw, usually projecting in front of the upper jaw (which is usually pointed anteriorly vs. roundish in C. poecilopterus ), the absence of true tricuspid jaw teeth, and more vertebrae (except Ch. formosus ). Further, the pectoral-fin spots in these species are usually smaller and less numerous than in C. poecilopterus , and usually irregularly spaced instead of arranged in oblique rows. Juveniles of these species, except for Ch. formosus (and Ch. pitcairnensis , whose juveniles are still not described), differ in having a pair of chin barbels.

Intraspecific variation. Populations of C. poecilopterus from the Arabian Sea and waters of Japan differ from others in morphology (see Shakhovskoy & Parin 2010). Considering that these populations also differ ecologically (see Shakhovskoy 2018), we herein describe them as separate subspecies.