Strongylura exilis
California Needlefish
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Beloniformes
Belonidae (Needlefishes)
Strongylura
Strongylura exilis (California Needlefish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Body shape: elongated. Caudal fin emarginate (Ref. 9279). Branchiostegal rays: 11-12 (Ref. 36575). Striking features: striking type of mouth.
Distribution
Eastern Pacific: San Francisco in California, USA to Peru, including the Galapagos Islands.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater, brackish, marine. pelagic-neritic. depth range 0-100 m.
Biology
Common in coastal and lagoon areas with mangroves (Ref. 9279). Also found in bays and harbors (Ref. 36575). Penetrate fresh water (Ref. 9279). Adults occur in small schools. Feed mainly on small fishes (Ref. 9279). Oviparous, with neustonic larvae (Ref. 36575). Eggs are attached to vegetation and floating objects via long filaments (Ref. 36575). Usually caught with the help of artificial lights (Ref. 9279). Marketed fresh (Ref. 9279).
Max length: 91.0 cm TL; common length: 50.0 cm SL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Oviparous (Ref. 36575).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2018-12-07. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: minor commercial.
References
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Fitch, J.E. and R.J. Lavenberg (1975) Tidepool and nearshore fishes of California. California Natural History Guides:38. University of California Press, Berkelley and Los Angeles, California. 156 p.
Collette, B.B. (1995) Belonidae. Agujones, maraos. p. 919-926. In W. Fischer, F. Krupp, W. Schneider, C. Sommer, K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) Guia FAO para Identification de Especies para lo Fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. 3 Vols. FAO, Rome.
Watson, W. (1996) Belonidae: needlefishes. p. 630-633. In H.G. Moser (ed.) The early stages of fishes in the California Current Region. California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) Atlas No. 33. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 1505 p.
Love, M.S., C.W. Mecklenburg, T.A. Mecklenburg and L.K. Thorsteinson (2005) Resource inventory of marine and estuarine fishes of the West Coast and Alaska: A checklist of North Pacific and Arctic Ocean species from Baja California to the Alaska-Yukon border. U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, Seattle, Washington, 98104.
Comments On Strongylura exilis