Fisherman nets rare catch in Palghar

A rare fish with wings was trapped in the fishing net of Pramod Dalvi, a fisherman from Vadhvan village in Palghar district. He had never seen such fish with wings. So, out of curiosity, he brought that fish to the shore.

Palghar: A rare fish with wings called Flying fish has been topic of the town in Palghar. A fisherman Pramod Dalvi had gone to Vadhvan for fishing and managed to trap one in his net. As he had never seen it before, he brought it with him out of curiosity. As the flying fish has been found for the first time in this village, there is a lot of curiosity in the local people. The fish has been a subject of discussion.

What are Flying Fish?

Flying fish is a sea fish which can float out of water for some time. There are flying fishes of 9 species and 64 categories. This fish is found in seas in tropical areas. It has broad chest fins which function as wings. The flying fish with the help of strong tail, jump out of water surface and float for some distance with the help of long wings. Because of this characteristic, they are called flying fish. The zoological name of flying fish found at Konkan seashore is Excoetinae Volitance.

This fish is found in seas in tropical areas

The bodies of flying fish belonging to Exocoetidae family are 14 to 45 Cm long and pointing to both ends. Its chest and lower wings are very near to tail. Its upper wings are made up of large and thin cushion. In some species, there are black dots on blackish chest wings. There are medium size silver colour scales on the body. The mouth is upwards. Its eyes and flatulence space is big. These fishes are mainly found in Atlantic, Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. These fishes are generally found in deep-sea and rarely they come to the shore.

Shrimps, fish eggs are prey for these flying fishes. Though their reproduction period goes for the whole year, in the period March to June, it goes on a large scale. Their eggs have long fibres, so that, they remain trapped in each other or water plants. In this condition, the eggs float till they hatch and brood come out. The mammals living in the sea like Dolphin and Porpoise. Animals with soft skin and some birds eat these fishes. Flying fish can fly with speed 70 km per hour The flying fish jump out of the water to escape from predators or while chasing prey.

The Flying Fish

Before coming out of the water, they increase the speed of swimming and lift their body with a jump out of water surface. They hit the water with the help of back fins and move ahead in zigzag style and spring forward in the air. Before taking a jump, the flying fish gets up to speed by moving its body for some seconds. In one leap, they can cross 50 to 400-meter distance. They fly just like the flight of an aeroplane and their wings do not go up and down. They can fly at a speed of 70 kilometres per hour and can float 6 Meter high on the water surface. While returning to the water, their chest wings are closed.