You can sponsor this page

Hyporhamphus melanochir (Valenciennes, 1847)

Southern garfish
Add your observation in Fish Watcher
Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
This map was computer-generated and has not yet been reviewed.
Hyporhamphus melanochir   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
Upload your photos and videos
 Pictures | Google image
Image of Hyporhamphus melanochir (Southern garfish)
Hyporhamphus melanochir
Picture by CSIRO

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Beloniformes (Needle fishes) > Hemiramphidae (Halfbeaks)
Etymology: Hyporhamphus: Greek, hypo = under + Greek, rhamphos = beak, bill (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Valenciennes.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; depth range 0 - 20 m (Ref. 6390). Temperate; 27°S - 44°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Indian Ocean: Endemic to Australian temperate waters (Murchison River, Kalbarri in Western Australia to Eden, New South Wales, including Tasmania).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 25 - ? cm
Max length : 52.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 10988); max. published weight: 600.00 g (Ref. 6390); max. reported age: 10 years (Ref. 27011)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 15 - 18; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 17 - 20; Vertebrae: 55 - 61. Gill rakers usually 33 or less on the first arch and usually 26 or less on the second arch. Relatively shorter upper and lower jaw, especially at larger sizes.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Found inshore in surface waters of estuaries, bays, inlets and gulfs to a depth of about 20 m (Ref. 9563). In the South Australian gulfs, southern sea garfish may be found in deeper waters during the colder months (Ref. 27008). Generally herbivorous, seagrasses and algal filaments comprise about 75% of their food (Refs. 26551, 27013). Form schools, generally found near the surface at night and close to the bottom over seagrass beds during the day (Ref. 6390). Post-larvae or young fish less than 1-year-old live in estuaries from March to July then move to inshore marine waters, remaining there for up to 2 years (Ref. 27012).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Viviparous (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Collette, Bruce B. | Collaborators

Collette, B.B., 1974. The garfishes (Hemiramphidae) of Australia and New Zealand. Records of the Australian Museum 29(2):11-105. (Ref. 10988)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

Not Evaluated 

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; bait: usually
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Collaborators
Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures
References
References

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 14.3 - 22.3, mean 17.6 °C (based on 324 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00257 (0.00115 - 0.00574), b=3.09 (2.91 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  2.7   ±0.27 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.51-0.77; tm=2-3; tmax=10).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (28 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.