Dangerous and Deadly Sea Creatures: Needlefish

The name needlefish is derived from the fact that a needlefish has an elongated body and long, narrows jaws. Needlefish (family Belonidae) also known as Indonesian Needlefish are piscivorous fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea. Some genera include species found in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments (e.g., Strongylura) while a few genera are confined to freshwater rivers and streams, including Belonion, Potamorrhaphis, and Xenentodon.

Needlefish are commonly seen schooling near the surface of tropical and subtropical waters. But they can also hurl themselves out of the water, and once airborne they can become dangerous flying daggers. Though it is rare, people have been seriously hurt and even killed when stabbed by the fish’s sharp, elongated jaws.

Needlefish are slender fish, ranging from 3 to 95 cm (1.2 to 37.4 in) in length. They have a single dorsal fin, placed far back on the body, almost opposite to the anal fin. Their most distinctive feature is their long, narrow beak, which bears multiple sharp teeth. The jaws are filled with an abundance of very sharp teeth. All these characteristics make the needlefishes look very similar to gars, and several needlefish species are referred to as gars or garfish in everyday language. In most species, the upper jaw only reaches its full length in adulthood, so the juveniles have a half-beak appearance, with an elongated lower jaw, but a much smaller upper one.

Quick facts and scientific classification of needlefish:

Kingdom:        Animalia

Phylum:           Chordata

Class:  Actinopterygii

Order: Beloniformes

Family:            Belonidae (Bonaparte, 1832)

Some species of needlefish inhabit brackish and freshwater environments, and one of the fresh water species, Xenentodon cancila from Southeast Asia, is occasionally kept as an aquarium fish.