Species group · Bony fish
Needlefish
WAnimals has 2 species of needlefish, spread across 2 families (Belonidae, Hemiramphidae).
- 2 species
- 2 families
- 76 countries
- 47 parks
- Weight
- 93 g
- Length
- 31 cm – 95 cm
Ranges calculated from the entries that record the figure, not from all 2.
All 2 species of needlefish on WAnimals
Each one has its own full entry. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
Conservation status
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
See the global conservation statusWhere they live
Recorded in 76 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
Did you know…
Its bones are a striking blue-green from a build-up of biliverdin, a bile pigment — a conspicuous but harmless trait that often puts off anyone cooking it for the first time.
From Garfish
It leaps and travels out of the water on its tail, and serious injuries have been documented in the Black Sea and the Caribbean from needlefish jumping towards a lit boat at night.
From Garfish
Its young hatch with a short beak and only develop the upper jaw later, in several stages.
From Garfish
Its lower jaw is greatly elongated into a beak while the upper is short and triangular, which is where the name halfbeak comes from; the fleshy edge of the beak is red.
From Common Halfbeak
The juveniles' beak is far less developed than the adults'.
From Common Halfbeak