198 UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



The flesh is green but is very good to eat. Gars are extremely swift and, when 

 disturbed, are known to leap like spears through the air. People have been 

 known to be seriously injured when struck by a leaping fish. They are often 

 seen skittering very rapidly for some distance over the water's surface with 

 only their tails in contact with the water. They are common near shore in 

 all tropical seas and are often seen in harbors. The authors have seen them 

 under water but found them difficult to photograph because of their constant 

 activity and speed. Gars travel in small schools usually. The species are many 

 and hard to separate. 



houndfish: Strongylura raphidoma— Color Plate 1 



Size: Averages 2 feet. Up to 5 feet. Largest of the family. 



Distribution: Florida and the Caribbean. Straggles to New Jersey. 



Identification: The beak is rather short and strong, and this fish is large 

 compared with others in the family. 



Habits: This species in particular has the habit of leaping from the water 

 and can be dangerous to people in small boats who get in their way. The 

 houndfish is a voracious feeder on small, surface fishes. 



HALFBEAKS OR SCISSORS: Family Hemirhamphidae 



These fishes are very similar to the gars but are slightly less elongate and 

 have only the lower jaw lengthened. (Only one species, the hardhead, 

 Chriodorus antherinoides, has both jaws short.) Half beaks are swift, surface fishes 

 and tend toward "flying" even more than do the gars. One, the flying halfbeak, 

 Euleptorhavi-phus velox, has expanded, winglike pectoral fins. Like the gars, 

 they are characteristic of all warm seas, mainly near shore, but unlike the gars, 

 most are small and all are herbivorous. Most also have a wide silvery lateral 

 stripe. The toothless jaws are used to scoop algae into the mouth though the 

 details of how this is done are poorly known. Hesse, Allee, and Schmidt (1951) 

 say that they eat some algae from the bottom, but this seems odd for this surface 

 fish. The schooling tendency is more marked than in the gars. 



halfbeak: Hyporhamphiis unifasciatus— Color Plate I 



Size: Up to 1 foot. 



Distribution: Florida and the West Indies. Reaches Massachusetts in the 

 Gulf Stream. 



Identification: Same as for the family. 



Habits: Schools of this common surface fish are common in quiet, shallow 

 waters throughout its range. 



Similar Sfecies: The West Coast halfbeak, Hyporhauiplnis rosae, reaches 

 only 6 inches and is common in sheltered bays from southern California 

 southward. 



The Atlantic saury or skipjack, Scoinberesox saiirus, belongs to a different 

 family, Scomberesocidae, but is very similar to the halfbeaks. The jaws are 

 toothless and thin, and the upper is nearly as long as the lower. The dorsal 

 and anal fins are followed by finlets as in the mackerel. Great schools of these 

 herbivorous fish arc mainly found in temperate seas offshore. 



The Pacific saury, Colobis saira, is like the Atlantic species and is found 



