Do Flying Fish Really Fly? A Detailed Look at Their Food Value and Benefits

Flying fish have a peculiar appearance, with particularly well-developed pectoral fins like the wings of a bird, and they can move at high speed through the sea at 10 meters per second. So, do flying fish really fly? Can they be eaten? What benefits and effects do they have?

1. Do “flying fish” really fly?

Flying fish do not actually fly. Whenever one is about to leave the water, it must first swim at high speed in the water, with its pectoral fins held close to the sides of its body, rising steadily like a submarine. The flying fish strikes the water forcefully with its tail, and its whole body shoots into the air like an arrow released from a bowstring. After leaping out of the water, it spreads its long, bright pectoral fins and pelvic fins to glide rapidly forward; the “wings” do not flap, and it relies on the thrust from its tail to make a brief “flight” through the air.

2. Can it be eaten? What benefits and effects does it have?

Flying fish can be eaten. Its nature and flavor are sweet and salty, and it is non-toxic. It can tonify qi and blood and make childbirth easier. It treats hemorrhoids. It can be used to treat difficult labor in women: burn it into charcoal, grind it into powder, and take one qian with warm wine. It can also treat mania and hemorrhoids.

3. How do flying fish reproduce?

The main food of flying fish in the sea is tiny plankton. Every year in April and May, they travel from near the equator to China's inland seas to spawn “young” and reproduce. Their eggs are light and small, and the membrane on the surface of the eggs has filamentous protrusions, making them very suitable for attaching to seaweed. In the past, based on the spawning habits of flying fish, fishermen placed many gill nets hundreds of meters long in the sea along the routes the fish had to pass to spawn, using them to catch the fish. Now that the state has protection measures in place, this beautiful fish is protected.