Tylosurus acus
Atlantic Agujon
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Beloniformes
Belonidae (Needlefishes)
Tylosurus
Tylosurus acus (Atlantic Agujon)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
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
Elongate and oval in cross section, lower jaw slightly longer than upper jaw, small black lateral keel on caudal peduncle. Jaw teeth in bands, sharp pointed with inner teeth enlarged and caninelike. Vomerine teeth absent. Gill rakers absent. Snout length about 21.5%, head length 31.7% to 32.8%, head width 4.7% to 5.6%, eye diameter 3.4%, height of anterior dorsal fin lobe about 5.9%, height of anterior anal fin lobe 6% to 6.2%, body depth 4.8% to 7.7% of SL. Pectoral fin has 13 or 14 rays. Dorsal fin has strongly concave margin and 22 to 26 rays. Anal fin similar to dorsal fin with 20 to 24 rays. Caudal fin deeply forked with lower lobe much longer than upper lobe. Scales very small, predorsal scales number 325 to 389. Vertebrae number 90 to 95.
Dark bluish dorsally and silvery white ventrally, with dark blue stripe along flank. Juveniles have dark elevated lobe in posterior part of dorsal fin.
Distribution
Massachusetts and Bermuda to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, including the entire Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean Sea.
Entire Gulf of Mexico
Habitat Associations
Offshore and coastal waters, with depth range not specified
Young more common in inshore waters, adults more common in offshore waters
Biology
Small pelagic fishes
Maximum known size is 128.5 mm SL
Spawning occurs offshore, eggs are 3.2 to 4 mm in diameter
Inhabits oceanic and neritic waters (Ref. 26340). Feeds on small fishes. Oviparous (Ref. 205). Eggs may be found attached to objects in the water by tendrils on the egg's surface (Ref. 205). Although sold fresh and salted, its market is limited due to the green-colored flesh (Ref. 5217). Circumglobal in tropical seas and divisible into four subspecies (Ref 90102).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-07-10. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Phylogeny and Morphologically Similar Fishes
Distinguished from other species of the family by the combination of characters described
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Beebe and Tee-Van 1933
Bohlke and Chaplin 1968
Collette 1978b
Collette and Parin 1986
C. R. Robins et al. 1986
Cervigon 1991
Boschung 1992
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Claro, R. (1994) Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
Paugy, D. (2003) Belonidae. p. 293-297 In C. Lévêque, D. Paugy and G.G. Teugels (eds.) Faune des poissons d'eaux douce et saumâtres de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, Tome 2. Coll. Faune et Flore tropicales 40. Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgique, Museum National d'Histoire Naturalle, Paris, France and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Paris, France. 815 p.
Allen, G.R. and M.V. Erdmann (2012) Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth, Australia: Universitiy of Hawai'i Press, Volumes I-III. Tropical Reef Research.
Comments On Tylosurus acus