Garfish

{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{for multi|the large freshwater fish|Gar|the New Zealand fish|Hyporhamphus ihi|the Australian fish|Hyporhamphus melanochir}} {{Speciesbox | image = Garfish, Peloponnese, Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian Islands, GR imported from iNaturalist photo 222165464.jpg | image_caption = Feeding, in Greece | image2 = Belone belone1.jpg | image2_caption = 1795-1797 illustration | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Collette, B.B. |date=2015 |title=''Belone belone'' |volume=2015 |article-number=e.T198573A15536157 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T198573A15536157.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> | taxon = Belone belone | authority = (Linnaeus, 1761) | range_map = Belone belone mapa.svg | range_map_caption = The range of the garfish | synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets = true|title=List | ''Esox belone'' Linnaeus, 1761 | ''Belone belone belone'' (Linnaeus, 1761) | ''Belone bellone'' (Linnaeus, 1761) | ''Belone longirostris'' Schinz, 1822 | ''Belone acus'' Risso, 1827 | ''Belone vulgaris'' Fleming, 1828 | ''Belone rostrata'' Faber, 1829 | ''Hemiramphus europaeus'' Yarrell, 1837 | ''Belone gracilis'' Lowe, 1839 | ''Belone belone gracilis'' Lowe, 1839 | ''Hemiramphus balticus'' Hohnbaum-Hornschuch, 1843 | ''Hemiramphus behnii'' Hohnbaum-Hornschuch, 1843 | ''Belone vulgaris'' Valenciennes, 1846 | ''Belone undecimradiata'' Budge, 1848 | ''Hemiramphus obtusus'' Couch, 1848 | ''Macrognathus scolopax'' Gronow, 1854 | ''Belone euxini'' Günther, 1866 | ''Belone belone euxini'' Günther, 1866 | ''Belone cornidii'' Günther, 1866 | ''Belone linnei'' Malm, 1877 }} }}

The '''garfish''' ('''''Belone belone'''''), also known as the '''garpike, needlefish''' or '''sea needle''', is a pelagic, oceanodromous needlefish found in brackish and marine waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Black, and Baltic Seas.

==Description== [[File:Belone belone - Sardegna.JPG|left|thumb|In Sardinia]] The garfish is a long and slender fish with a laterally compressed body, and grows to about {{convert|50|to|75|cm|abbr=on}} in length. The jaws are elongated and armed with sharp teeth. The pectoral, dorsal, and anal fins are situated well back on the body and the latter two are similar in appearance. Positioning the fins so far back gives greater flexibility to the body. The lateral line is set low on the flanks. The colour of the body is bluish green with a silvery grey belly and the bones are green.<ref name=Juttner2013>{{cite journal |author1=Jüttner, Frank |author2=Maike Stiesch |author3=Waldemar Ternes |title=Biliverdin: the blue-green pigment in the bones of the garfish (Belone belone) and eelpout (Zoarces viviparus) |journal=European Food Research and Technology |volume=236 |issue=6 |pages=943–953 |year=2013 |doi=10.1007/s00217-013-1932-y|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=NatureGate>{{cite web |url=http://www.luontoportti.com/suomi/en/kalat/garfish |title=Garfish: ''Belone belone'' |publisher=NatureGate |access-date=2013-12-16}}</ref> Garfish are pelagic fish which live close to the water surface. They eat small fish and have a migratory pattern similar to that of the mackerel, arriving a short time before the latter to spawn. Their association with mackerel has led to some older common names such as "mackerel guide" and "mackerel guardian".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Waltham |first1=Nathan J. |last2=Connolly |first2=Rod M. |date=March 2006 |title=Trophic strategies of garfish, Arrhamphus sclerolepis, in natural coastal wetlands and artificial urban waterways |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00227-005-0154-7 |journal=Marine Biology |language=en |volume=148 |issue=5 |pages=1135–1141 |doi=10.1007/s00227-005-0154-7 |s2cid=3897777 |issn=0025-3162|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Behaviour== Garfish are pelagic fish which live close to the water surface. They eat small fish and have a migratory pattern similar to that of the mackerel, arriving a short time before the latter to spawn. Their association with mackerel has led to some older common names such as "mackerel guide" and "mackerel guardian".<ref name = BSF/> They move into shallow waters in April and May and spawn in areas with eelgrass in May and June. In the autumn, they return to the open sea, including the Atlantic west of Ireland and Great Britain. Garfish are oviparous and the eggs are often found attached to objects in the water by tendrils on the egg's surface. Spawning occurs in May and June among seagrass beds with the long sticky tendrils on the chorion adhering to the blades of the sea grasses. The juveniles remain in shallower waters until such time as they attain sexual maturity.<ref name = MARLin>{{cite web | author = Langmead, O. | year = 2008 | title = ''Belone belone'' Garfish | editor1 = Tyler-Walters H. | editor2 = Hiscock K. | work = Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Reviews | publisher = PMarine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth | access-date = 28 July 2019 | url = https://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/40https://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/40 | archive-date = 28 July 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190728171040/https://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/40https://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/40 }}</ref>

The garfish is a predator which hunts in the open sea seeking out shoals of small fish, such as Atlantic herring, sprats, sand eels, and even three-spined sticklebacks. They also feed on free-swimming crustaceans.<ref name=NatureGate/> They frequently forage near to the shore and will hunt in and around natural or manmade features which interrupt tidal flows.<ref name = BSF>{{cite web | url = https://britishseafishing.co.uk/garfish/ | title = Garfish | access-date = 28 July 2019 | publisher = britishseafishing.co.uk}}</ref>

==Subspecies== The following subspecies of ''Belone belone'' have been recognised:<ref name = FishBase>{{FishBase|Belone|belone|month=April|year=2019}}</ref>

* ''Belone belone belone'' (Linnaeus, 1761) in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean * ''Belone belone euxini'' Günther, 1866 in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov * ''Belone belone acus'' Risso, 1827 in the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent parts of Atlantic Ocean, Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores, and south to Cape Verde * ''Belone belone gracilis'' Lowe, 1839 from France to the Canary Islands including the Mediterranean

''B. b. euxini'' is treated as a valid species ''Belone euxini'' by FishBase<ref name = FB2>{{FishBase|Belone|euxini|month=April |year=2019}}</ref> while other authorities treat ''B. b. acus'' as the species ''Belone acus'', which is synonymous with ''B. b. gracilis''.<ref name = CoFG>{{Cof genus|genus=Belone|access-date=28 July 2019}}</ref> left|thumb|180x180px|In Greece

==Use as food== Garfish are sometimes caught as bycatch, mainly in fixed nets along the coast in shallow waters. If caught with rod and line, they tend to leap out of the water when hooked. Garfish are eaten boiled, fried, baked, grilled, or smoked. They have unusual green bones (due to the presence of biliverdin) which discourages many people from eating them, but the green colour is harmless. They are very popular as a food in Denmark.<ref>{{cite web | title=Hornfisk sæson i 2025 | website=Fiskeoplevelser | date=2022-01-30 | url=https://fiskeoplevelser.dk/hornfisk-saeson/ | language=da | access-date=2025-08-07}}</ref>

== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed" heights="100"> File:Belone Head.jpg|alt= File:Gewöhnliche Hornhecht Belone belone.jpg File:Belone belone Lefkada.jpg File:Belone belone - Garfish (cropped).jpg File:Belone belone acus.jpg </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * {{FishBase | genus = Belone | species = belone | year = 2007 | month = Apr}} * {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Garfish}}

==External links== {{Wikispecies|Belone belone|''Belone belone''}} {{Commons category|Belone belone|''Belone belone''}} * {{sealifephotos|126375}}

Category:Belone Category:Fish of Europe Category:Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Category:Fish of the Black Sea Category:Fish of the North Sea Category:Fish of the Baltic Sea Category:Fauna of Macaronesia Category:Marine fish of North Africa Category:Fish described in 1761 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus