Maldives Marine Life

Marine life of Maldivian waters

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Sailfin flyingfish
No photo available
Photo: David Starr Jordan / Barton Warren Evermann / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (view on Wikimedia Commons)Historical illustration. Source: Jordan, David Starr; Evermann, Barton Warren (1905) Shore Fishes of the Hawaiian Islands, with a General Account of the Fish Fauna, Bulletin of the United State; Commons file: FMIB 42597 Parexocoetus brachypterus (Solander) Malolo.jpeg

Sailfin flyingfish

Parexocoetus brachypterus

Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).

English
Sailfin flyingfish
Scientific
Parexocoetus brachypterus
Dhivehi
No recorded Dhivehi name
Group
Tunas and other pelagics
Family
Exocoetidae (flyingfishes)
Maximum size
Up to about 20 cm (total length); commonly 16 cm
Depth and habitat
Open water over reefs and the atoll shelf, recorded from 0 to 20 m
IUCN status
NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)

Description

A small flyingfish with a tall black dorsal fin, greenish blue above and silvery below, reaching about 20 cm. It lives in coastal surface waters.

Sources

Dhivehi name source: No Dhivehi name found in MRS 1997 (available chapters), FishBase (country: Maldives) or Dhivehi Wikipedia.