Pacific Needlefish, Tylosurus pacificus

Pacific Needlefish, Tylosurus pacificus. Fish caught off the beach, at Km 21, Cabo Real, Baja California Sur, October 2006.  Length: 84 cm (2 feet 9 inches).

The Pacific Needlefish, Tylosurus pacificus, is a member of the Needlefish or Belonidae Family, that is also known as the Pacific Agujón and in Mexico as agujón del Pacifico. Globally, there are six species in the genus Tylosurus, of which three are found in Mexican waters, one, this species, in the Pacific and two in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The Pacific Needlefish has a slender elongated rounded body with a dark blue-green upper body, silvery sides, and a white belly. They have a dark blue stripe on the middle of their flanks. They have large eyes and the inside of their mouth is green. Their jaws are prolonged with the lower beak being slightly longer than the upper beak; their beaks are relatively long (17% to 19% of standard length), slender, and up-curved with many long and pointed teeth. Their anal fin has 18 to 21 rays; their caudal fin is deeply forked with the lower lobe being much longer than the upper lobe; their dorsal fin has 21 to 23 rays and a long base; their pectoral has 11 to 14 rays; and, their pelvic fins are short.

The Pacific Needlefish is an oceanic pelagic fish found in the first 8 m (25 feet) of the water column. They reach a maximum of 1.30 m (4 feet 3 inches) in length. As of January 1, 2024, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 7.26 kg (16 lbs 0 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Panama in December 2012. The Pacific Needlefish is rare and is 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.

The Pacific Needlefish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a limited distribution being found from Guerrero Negro, Baja California, southward along the central and southwest coasts of Baja, in the southern third of the Sea of Cortez, and along the coast of the mainland south to Guatemala.

The Pacific Needlefish is most likely confused with the California Needlefish, Strongylura exilis (yellow eyes and fins, thin body profile, anal fin before the dorsal fin), the Giant Mexican Needlefish, Tylosurus fodiator (short beak, massive teeth, long pectoral and pelvic fins) and the Keeljaw Needlefish, Tylosurus melanotus (keel on tip of chin).

Caudal fins. Top photo Giant Mexican Needlefish, Tylosurus fodiator. Bottom photo Pacific Needlefish, Tyosurus pacificus.

From a conservation perspective the Pacific Needlefish has not been formally evaluated. They are viewed by locals as a pest with “too many bones” to be utilized for food. They are either a “catch and release” or retained for use as cut bait for bottom fishing. When hooked they become acrobatic, making spectacular jumps while bending themselves into complete circles, and make mad, short dashes. They are excellent bait stealers inflicting major damage to and weakening monofilament lines with their enormous teeth.