Hirundichthys Breder, 1928
Body elongate, moderately thick, flattened ventrally. Pectoral branch of lateral line absent. Upper jaw not protrusible. Dorsal fin with less or equal (rarely with one more) rays than anal fin; dorsal fin low, anterior rays the longest; pectoral fins strikingly long, reaching to or almost to caudal fin base; pelvic fins long, reaching beyond anal fin origin, their insertion closer to anal fin origin than to pectoral fin insertion.
Habitat: epipelagic in oceanic waters. Food: no data. Reproduction: spawning in summer in Mediterranean; eggs with bunch of filaments opposed by a single filament on opposite pole; juveniles without barbels.
Distribution: in south-western part of Clofnam area and in the Mediterranean, where a separate population probably migrates to the south-eastern part in winter; occasionally northwards to Spain and the English Channel. Elsewhere, in subtropical waters of all oceans.
Species 7; in Clofnam area 2.
Species of this genus in the program:
Hirundichthys rondeletii
Hirundichthys speculiger