Needlefish

Needlefish (family Belonidae) are piscivorous fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea. Some genera include species found in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments (e.g., Strongylura) while a few genera are confined to freshwater rivers and streams, including Belonion, Potamorrhaphis, and Xenentodon. Needlefish closely resemble North American freshwater gars (family Lepisosteidae) in being elongate and having long, narrow jaws filled with sharp teeth, and some species of needlefish are referred to as gars or garfish despite being only distantly related to the true gars. In fact the name "garfish" was originally used for the needlefish Belone belone in Europe and only later applied to the North American fishes by European settlers during the 18th century.

Description

Needlefish are slender fish, ranging from 3 centimetres (1 in) to 95 centimetres (37 in) in length. They have a single dorsal fin, placed far back on the body, almost opposite to the anal fin. Their most distinctive feature is their long narrow beak, which bears multiple sharp teeth. In most species, the upper jaw only reaches its full length in adulthood, so that the juveniles have a half-beak appearance, with an elongate lower jaw, but a much smaller upper one. During this stage of their life cycle, they eat plankton, switching to fish once the beak fully develops.

Ecology

All needlefish feed primarily on smaller fishes, which they catch with a sideways sweep of the head. In addition some species will also take plankton, swimming crustaceans, and small cephalopods. Freshwater species are also predatory, with the Asian species at least feeding exclusively on small crustaceans.

Needlefish are most common in the tropics but some inhabit temperate waters as well, particularly during the summer months. Belone belone is a common North Atlantic species that often swims in schools alongside mackerel.

Classification

Needlefishes are members of the Beloniformes and close relatives of the flyingfishes, halfbeaks, and sauries. The family contains 34 species, grouped into 10 genera:

Family Belonidae Genus Ablennes
Ablennes hians - Flat needlefish
Genus Belone
Belone belone - Garpike
Belone svetovidovi
Genus Belonion
Belonion apodion
Belonion dibranchodon
Genus Petalichthys
Petalichthys capensis - Cape needlefish
Genus Platybelone
Platybelone argalus - Keeltail needlefish
Genus Potamorrhaphis
Potamorrhaphis eigenmanni
Potamorrhaphis guianensis
Potamorrhaphis petersi
Genus Pseudotylosaurus
Pseudotylosurus angusticeps
Pseudotylosurus microps
Genus Strongylura
Strongylura anastomella
Strongylura exilis - Californian needlefish
Strongylura fluviatilis
Strongylura hubbsi - Maya needlefish
Strongylura incisa - Reef needlefish
Strongylura krefftii - Long tom
Strongylura leiura - Banded needlefish
Strongylura marina - Atlantic needlefish
Strongylura notata - Redfin needlefish
Strongylura scapularis - Shoulderspot needlefish
Strongylura senegalensis - Senegal needlefish
Strongylura strongylura - Spottail needlefish
Strongylura timucu - Timucu
Strongylura urvillii - Urville's longtom
Genus Tylosurus
Tylosurus acus - Agujon needlefish
Tylosurus choram - Red Sea houndfish
Tylosurus crocodilus
Tylosurus gavialoides - Stout longtom
Tylosurus pacificus - Pacific agujon needlefish
Tylosurus punctulatus - Spotted long-tom
Genus Xenentodon
Xenentodon cancila - Freshwater garfish
Xenentodon canciloides

In the aquarium

Some species of needlefish inhabit brackish and freshwater environments, and one of the freshwater species, Xenentodon cancila from South East Asia, is occasionally kept as an aquarium fish. It is a relatively small species, no more than 30 to 40 cm in length when fully grown, but is considered to be a rather delicate fish best suited to advanced aquarists.

Translation of "Needlefish"

German: Hornhechte, Spanish: Belonidae, Persian: منقارماهیان, French: Belonidae, Georgian: ზღვისქარიყლაპიასებრნი, Latin: Belonidae, Lithuanian: Vėjažuvinės, Dutch: Gepen, Japanese: ダツ, Polish: Belonowate, Portuguese: Bicuda, Swedish: Näbbgäddfiskar, Turkish: Zargana.