''Euleptorhamphus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

halfbeak Hemiramphidae is a family (biology), family of fishes that are commonly called halfbeaks, spipe fish or spipefish. They are a geographically widespread and numerically abundant family of epipelagic fish inhabiting warm waters around the world. ...

s (

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Hemiramphidae) in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Beloniformes Beloniformes is an order composed of six families (and about 264 species) of freshwater and marine ray-finned fish: * Adrianichthyidae (ricefish and medakas) * Belonidae (needlefish) * Exocoetidae (flyingfishes) * Hemiramphidae (halfb ...

Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Euleptorhamphus velox'' Poey, 1868 (Flying halfbeak) * '' Euleptorhamphus viridis'' ( van Hasselt, 1823) (Ribbon halfbeak) Both of these species are marine. ''E. velox'' occurs in coastal and oceanic waters from the western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

south through the

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and

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

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Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and eastern

from the

Cape Verde Islands Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. ''E. viridis'' is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical waters of the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

. It is usually oceanic, but enters large open bays and is also found around islands. ''Euleptorhamphus velox'' may reach up to 61.0 centimetres (24.0 in) TL. ''E. viridis'' may grow up to 53.0 cm (20.9 in) TL. ''Euleptorhamphus viridis'' is able to jump out of the water and fly short distances, by twisting the back half of its body 90° so its symmetrical dorsal and anal fins can act as a pair of gliding wings.

References

Hemiramphidae Extant Miocene first appearances {{Beloniformes-stub