''Parexocoetus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

flying fish The Exocoetidae are a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes class Actinopterygii, known colloquially as flying fish or flying cod. About 64 species are grouped in seven to nine genera. While they cannot fly in the same way a bird ...

es. They are found in the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic and

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 ...

Oceans. It is the only genus in the subfamily Parexocoetinae which is unique among the flying fishes in having a jaw which is very protrusible and having a joint situated between the

cranium The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, ...

and the

shoulder girdle The shoulder girdle or pectoral girdle is the set of bones in the appendicular skeleton which connects to the arm on each side. In humans it consists of the clavicle and scapula; in those species with three bones in the shoulder, it consists ...

which allows the head to be more maneuverable than in other lineages of this family.

Species

Three recognized species are in this genus: * ''

Parexocoetus brachypterus The sailfin flying fish (''Parexocoetus brachypterus'') is a member of the flying fish family (''Exocoetidae''). As is typical of other members of its family, this species has the ability to jump out of the water and glide on hypertrophied fins i ...

'' ( J. Richardson, 1846) (sailfin flyingfish) * '' Parexocoetus hillianus'' (

P. H. Gosse Philip Henry Gosse FRS (; 6 April 1810 – 23 August 1888), known to his friends as Henry, was an English naturalist and populariser of natural science, an early improver of the seawater aquarium, and a painstaking innovator in the study of ma ...

, 1851) * '' Parexocoetus mento'' (

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

, 1847) (African sailfin flyingfish)

References

Exocoetidae {{Beloniformes-stub