Can You ID a fish for me?

[CaseyJr]

My husband & son are at FLORIDA SEABASE (FL Keys) with their scout troop. First boat ride out they saw some fish following the boat that seemed to be on top of the water, scooting along on their tails. Said they stayed on top for "a long time." Unable to provide any more ID. Captain said it wasn't flying fish, and called it something that (maybe) started with "m." Any idea what this fish might be?

[jar546]

Color, size, shape, etc.?

[imwright1985]

Only thing starting with an M that hangs towards the top of the water would be mullet, and they will try popping out of the water when getting chased by something big. Not something amazing unless you see them getting torn up by some Jacks, baby sharks, or something cool

[RoatanMan]

Exocoetidae, is a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes of class Actinopterygii. (block copy... :eyebrow: aint it the shiznitz?)

They are pretty astonishing to me- even after seeing them for 50 years...

Flying fish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_fish) has a great picture.

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[CaseyJr]

About all the ID info I could get from him was:

1-2 feet long
Torpedo shaped
Silver colored

They only saw these fish on one occasion, and that was their 1st day out -- was probably early-mid afternoon. I know they saw more than one but don't know if they were schooling or just multiple individuals. Said it seemed like they were following the boat.

[Walter]

Sounds like Houndfish.

[Onewolf]

Sounds like Houndfish.

That's what I was thinking as well.

[CaseyJr]

I found some info on the houndfish, as well as the mullet, and have emailed that to my husband (what would we do w/out our mobile devices!). Hopefully this will help since he's the one who actually saw the fish.

[CaseyJr]

Just got a text from my husband -- says it'a BALLYHOO!

Boy Scout troop is leaving FL SEABASE and heading home tomorrow! Sounds like they had a wonderful time!

Thanks for your help!