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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cyprinodontiformes (Rivulines, killifishes and live bearers) > Poeciliidae (Poeciliids) > Poeciliinae
Etymology: Belonesox: Greek, belone = needle; any fish with sharp pointed snout + Esox, the old name for pike (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Kner.

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

Freshwater; brackish; demersal; pH range: 6.0 - 8.0; dH range: 9 - 19; non-migratory. Tropical; 25°C - 37°C (Ref. 36880); 29°N - 11°N, 100°W - 79°W (Ref. 55262)

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

North and Central America: Laguna San Julian, northeast of Ciudad Veracruz in Mexico to Costa Rica. Southern Gulf of Mexico, southern Yucatan and along Central American coast south to Nicaragua (Ref. 26938). Introduced in freshwater in Florida (Ref. 26938).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 50894); 15.0 cm TL (female); common length : 9.7 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Slender, elongate fish with elongate jaws forming a prominent pointed beak. Scales very small and numerous (Ref. 26938).

Occurs in weedy canals and tolerates poorly oxygenated waters and salinity to 40 ppt. Occurrence in saline (34-37 ppt.) water in Florida seems to be a case of local acclimatization. Formerly used in medical research. Total length 14 cm (Ref. 26938). Mostly freshwater, sometimes brackish (Ref. 26938). Piscivore (Ref. 79012).

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

Produces up to 100 eggs.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p. (Ref. 5723)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 28 March 2018

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00851 (0.00433 - 0.01675), b=3.15 (2.98 - 3.32), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 2.9 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Fec=100).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Unknown.

Belonesox belizanus Kner, 1860