Flat needlefish | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Beloniformes |
Family: | Belonidae |
Genus: | Ablennes D. S. Jordan & Fordice, 1887[2] |
Species: | A. hians
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Binomial name | |
Ablennes hians Valenciennes, 1846
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Synonyms | |
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The flat needlefish (Ablennes hians), or barred longtom,[3] the only known member of the genus Ablennes, is a marine fish of the family Belonidae. Flat needlefish are considered gamefish, frequently caught with the help of artificial lights,[4] but are not often eaten because of their green-colored flesh.[5]
The generic name Ablennes – formerly misspelled Athlennes – means ‘without mucosity’,[6] from the ancient Greek privative a- prefix and blennos (‘mucus’). Its specific name hians is Latin for "gaping".
Although they have no spines, they do have several soft rays. About 23-26 rays are on the dorsal fin and 24-28 are on the anal fin.[7] They have 86-93 vertebrae.[7] Dorsally, flat needlefish are blueish, white ventrally, with dark blotches and 12-14 vertical bars in the middle of their bodies.[8] Flat needlefish have elongated bodies, with scythe-shaped pectoral and anal fins.[7] They also have a dark lobe on the posterior part of their dorsal fins.[7]
The longest recorded flat needlefish measured 140 cm.[9] Measurements for flat needlefish body length do not include their caudal fins and heads because the fish's long jaws are often broken off.[7] The largest recorded weight for a flat needlefish was 4.8 kg.[9]
Flat needlefish are found worldwide in tropical and temperate seas.[7] In the Eastern Atlantic, they are known from Cape Verde and Dakar to Moçamedes in Angola.[10] In the western Atlantic, they are known from the Chesapeake Bay south to Brazil.[11] They are found throughout the Indian Ocean,[7] and in the western Pacific from the southern islands of Japan to Australia[12] and Tuvalu.[13] A few specimens have been collected from Syria to Israel in the Mediterranean Sea,[14] likely migrants from the Red Sea.
Flat needlefish usually live in neritic ocean waters near islands,[15] estuaries,[16] and near coastal rivers,[17] where they feed on smaller fish[4] and occasionally gather in large schools.[5]
Flat needlefish lay eggs, which attach themselves to floating debris by filaments on the surface of each egg.[18] Only the left gonad in both sexes is developed, and in males, the right gonad is sometimes wholly absent.[19]