garfish

Belone belone

A migratory needlefish of the Atlantic and Mediterranean

Temperate
Northern Hemisphere
Regional distribution
Atlantic Ocean
Africa
Europe
Elongated
Large
Temperate fish

The garfish (Belone belone), also known as the garpike, needlefish or sea needle, is a pelagic, oceanodromous needlefish found in brackish and marine waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Black, and Baltic Seas.

Class: Teleosts
Order: Needlefishes, Halfbeaks, and Allies
Family: Belonidae
Genus: Belone
Maximum length: 104 cm
Body shape: elongated
Distribution: Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. Three subspecies were recognized by Collette and Parin (1970, Ref. 34977 ) Belone belone belone (Linnaeus, 1761) (Northeast Atlantic); Belone belone euxini Günther, 1866 (Black Sea and Sea of Azov); Belone belone acus Risso, 1827 (Mediterranean Sea and adjacent parts of Atlantic Ocean, Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores, and south to Cape Verde (Ref. 50279 ); subspecies Belone belone gracilis Lowe, 1839 (France to the Canary Islands including the Mediterranean) in Collette & Parin, 1990 (Ref. 5757 ).
Conservation status: LCLeast Concern

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