Teleostei (teleosts) >
Beloniformes (Needle fishes) >
Hemiramphidae (Halfbeaks)
Etymology: Hyporhamphus: Greek, hypo = under + Greek, rhamphos = beak, bill (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: Monsieur Picart is said to have contributed natural history specimens from Cádiz, Spain, to the ‘King’s Cabinet’, but no further elaboration is made. (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Valenciennes.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; benthopelagic; depth range 0 - ? m. Subtropical; 37°N - 9°S, 18°W - 36°E
Eastern Atlantic: West to Gibraltar, Morocco and Dakar, Senegal to Luanda, Angola. Eastern Mediterranean: From Lebanon and Israel.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26999); common length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26999)
Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 16; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 13 - 17. Diagnosis: body elongate; lower jaw forming long, narrow beak; upper jaw short, triangular and scaled; scales on snout; well developed preorbital crest between eye and nasal pit; pelvics fin abdominal; dorsal and anal fins placed far back on body and spineless; caudal fin slightly forked (Ref. 57227).
Occurs in coastal waters. Often enters estuaries (Ref. 2683). Live on or near the bottom where it feeds on algae and organic debris which it gathers from the surface of the sediment (Ref. 5377). Forms schools. Attracted to lights at night. Eggs are attached to aquatic vegetation by sticky threads (Ref. 6730).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Collette, B.B. and N.V. Parin, 1990. Hemiramphidae. p. 579-582. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 4497)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial
Tools
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 18.4 - 27.9, mean 21.9 °C (based on 146 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 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): 2.0 ±0.00 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
