312 Needlefish, Atlantic Flying Fish 



Needlefish 

 Scomberesox saurus (Walbaum) 



Color: Olive green above; sides and belly silvery; a dark 

 silver horizontal band on each side; a dark green spot 

 above the base of each pectoral fin. 



Distribution: Found in temperate waters of the Indian, 

 Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. On the American Atlantic 

 coast it has been reported from North Carolina to southern 

 Newfoundland, but it is most common north of Cape Cod. 

 Size: Reaches a length of about IVi feet. 

 General Information: The Needlefish is found chiefly off- 

 shore swimming in large schools near the surface. It is fed 

 on by larger fish, such as pollock and tuna, and sometimes 

 is driven up on the shores by these fishes. Spawning occurs 

 in the open sea. The long jaws are not present in the 

 young but develop when the fish is slightly over 1^2 

 inches long. The lower jaw grows faster than the upper 

 one so that a fish 4-6 inches long has a much longer lower 

 than upper jaw and looks very much like a half beak. The 

 principal foods of the Needlefish are the small floating 

 young stages of various species of crabs and their relations 

 and small crustaceans and fishes. 



Economic Importance: This species is salable when mar- 

 keted, but it is caught too irregularly to be of much com- 

 mercial importance. 



Atlantic Flying Fish 

 Cypselurus heterurus (Rafinesque) 



