H aw aiian F is h e s 89 



THE NEEDLE FISH FAMILY 



Also known as the Hound Fishes, Gar Fishes, Salt Water Gars, 



Bill Fishes, and Long Tom Fishes 



49 Family Belonidae 



The needle fishes are usually of a greenish color on the back and pass 

 through a bluish or purplish cast along the sides of the body to a white 

 belly. They are often marked with a silvery stripe running along the 

 side of the body. They are very long and slender fishes and v.all reach 

 a length of five or six feet. The jaws of these fishes are very unusual. 

 They are long and slender and form a beak of which the lower jaw is 

 the longest. The lateral line of these fishes is present as a fold running 

 low along the side of the body. 



The needle fishes are widely distributed, although most of the species 

 are from American waters. They live at the surface and are widely 

 distributed in all of the warm seas of the world. During the warmer 

 months of the year they usually move nearer the shorelines and sometimes 

 enter rivers. 



The needle fishes are a voracious and carnivorous group with habits 

 and appearance much like the pike fishes and gar fishes, although they 

 are related to neither. These fishes are reported to be easily excited and 

 to jump out of the water as they swim along. They appear to attain a 

 fair speed and sometimes crash into the sides of ships. It is reported that 

 the larger individuals are a source of danger to swimmers and fishermen 

 and have been known to pierce the bodies of individuals in the course 

 of their wild leaps. 



Most of the needle fishes are good eating. The flesh is snow white, 

 firm, and of good taste. These fishes have often been avoided as food 

 because the bones of some of the larger species are green in color. 



Of about fifty known species, four have been reported from the 

 Hawaiian Islands. 



Flat-Tailed Needle Fish 



49-1 Belone platyura Bennett 



This needle fish is brownish, greenish-purple, or blue-black in color 

 above and silvery white on the sides and lower surface. The body is 

 elongated and the jaws are long and slender, the upper jaw being much 

 shorter than the lower. This species will reach a length of forty inches, 

 although most individuals are not that large. 



