The Needlefish Family – Belonidae

There are currently TEN members of the Needlefish or Belonidae Family, four from the Atlantic Ocean, three from the Pacific Ocean and three that reside in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, are presented in this website:

FROM THE ATLANTIC (4):

FROM THE PACIFIC (3):

FROM THE ATLANTIC AND THE PACIFIC (3):

The fish of the Needlefish or Belonidae Family are a fairly large family with thirty-four global members that have been placed in ten genera of which ten reside in Mexican waters,  four in the Atlantic Ocean, three in the Pacific Ocean and three in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They are known in Mexico’s fishing areas simply as needlefish and/or agujónes.

The Needlefish are a pelagic schooling fish that are normally found on the ocean surface well offshore. They are characterized by their slender elongated bodies, very long, knife-like snouts equipped with massive sets of teeth, and large eyes. They have blue-green backs transitioning to silvery-white ventrally affording them exceptional camouflage. They have a single anal and a single dorsal fin, both located well toward the back of the body; their pectoral fins are very short; and their pelvic fins are small and found well toward the back of the body. All their fins are spineless. The Needlefish, in general, are poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

Needlefishes have the ability to go airborne as a defensive tactic and have been known to injure humans during such maneuvers. They are ferociously carnivorous predatory fishes that feeding primarily on anchovies, herrings, and mullets; some species frequently visit inshore rocky and patch reefs in their quest for prey. They reproduce via the release of pelagic eggs that are sticky and attach themselves to floating objects or rocks. Most of the greater Los Cabos Needlefish (with one exception, the Keeltail Needlefish) are very similar in size and appearance and are therefore difficult to identify. Within this WWW site you will find easy ways to differentiate the two most similar and frequently caught Needlefish, the Pacific Needlefish and the Giant Mexican Needlefish. They are caught as a by-catch on fly lined small live or cut bait when targeting Dorado, Pacific Sierra, and Tuna. They are viewed by locals as poor table fare (“too many bones”) and are either treated as “catch and release” or retained for use as cut bait for bottom fishing.

Belonidae Sp., Juvenile.  Fish collected with a bait net in coastal waters off Gonzaga Bay, Baja California, June 2016. Length: 5.8 cm (2.3 inches). Catch and photograph courtesy of Chris Wheaton, Fullerton, California. Identification courtesy of H.J. Walker, Jr., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California.