Flat needlefish (Ablennes hians)

Scientific name: Ablennes hians Valenciennes, 1846

Flat needlefish (Ablennes hians)

The Flat needlefish (Ablennes hians) is a brackish-water fish of the family Belonidae.

Biology

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 23-26; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 24 - 28; Vertebrae: 86 - 93. Dark bluish dorsally, silvery white ventrally with black blotches on middle of body. Body greatly compressed laterally; anterior parts of dorsal and anal fins with high falcate lobes. Pectoral fins falcate; about 12-14 prominent dark vertical bars on body; juveniles and adults have an elevated black lobe in the posterior part of the dorsal fin.

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Ablennes hians
Family
Belonidae (Needlefishes)
Order
Beloniformes (Needle fishes)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
140
Common length
70.0
Depth range
0–3 m (0–10 ft)
Environment
Marine; brackish; reef-associated; oceanodromous; depth range 0 - 3 m
Climate
Subtropical
Distribution
Worldwide distribution in tropical and warm temperate waters. Eastern Atlantic: Cape Verde and Dakar to Mo?amedes, Angola; ranging further south to Namibia. Western Atlantic: Chesapeake Bay (USA), Bermuda, and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil. Throughout the Indian Ocean. Western Pacific: off coasts and islands from southern Japan through the East Indies to Australia. Reported from Tuvalu. Eastern Pacific: Mexico to Peru. Entire Caribbean, Antilles and South American coast to Rio de Janeiro.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
Resilience
Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Assuming tmax>3; K=0.6)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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