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Tylosurus crocodilus  (Péron & Lesueur, 1821)

Hound needlefish
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Tylosurus crocodilus
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Saudi Arabia country information

Common names: Hagool, Kharam
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments:
National Checklist:
Country Information: httpss://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Carpenter, K.E., F. Krupp, D.A. Jones and U. Zajonz, 1997
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Beloniformes (Needle fishes) > Belonidae (Needlefishes)
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Main reference

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 150 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30573); common length : 90.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9682); max. published weight: 6.4 kg (Ref. 40637)

Environment

Marine; reef-associated; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 13 m (Ref. 58302)

Climate / Range

Tropical; 26°C - 29°C (Ref. 4959), preferred 28°C (Ref. 107945); 21°N - 1°N

Distribution

Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea and South Africa (Ref. 5317) and Persian Gulf (Ref. 68964) to French Polynesia (Ref. 6784), north to Japan (Ref. 559), south to New South Wales, Australia (Ref. 33390). Replaced by Tylosurus crocodilus fodiator in the eastern Pacific. Western Atlantic: New Jersey, USA to Brazil (Ref. 7251). Eastern Atlantic: Fernando Poo, Cameroon, Liberia, and Ascension Island (Ref. 5757); from Senegal and Guinea (Ref. 28587); and Cape Verde (Ref. 27000). Recorded from the Mediterranean Sea (Ref. 83387).
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 21-23; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 18 - 22; Vertebrae: 80 - 86. Diagnosis: body elongate; upper and lower jaws extremely long, forming a stout beak armed with very sharp teeth; gill rakers absent (Ref. 57228, 90102). Nostrils in depression before eyes (nasal pit); pelvic fins abdominal; 21-23 dorsal-fin rays; anal fin long, 5.5-8.0 times in body length; small, black lateral keel on either sides of caudal peduncle; caudal fin deeply forked (Ref. 57228).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

A pelagic species (Ref. 26340) found over lagoon and seaward reefs. Solitary or in small groups. Feeds on fishes (Ref. 11889). Oviparous (Ref. 205). Eggs may be found attached to objects in the water by tendrils on the egg's surface (Ref. 205). Feared by fishers because they can cause puncture wounds with their sharp snouts when jumping out of the water, e.g. when alarmed or attracted to lights at night. Although sold fresh and considered a good food fish, its market is limited due to the green-colored flesh (Ref. 5217). Widespread in tropical Indo-Pacific, divisible in two subspecies (Ref 90102).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4690)



Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes

More information

Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Allele frequencies
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

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Internet sources

BHL | Check for other websites | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO(fisheries: production; publication : search) | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | PubMed | Scirus | Sea Around Us | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | uBio RSS | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record | Fishtrace

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
PD50 = 0.5078 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
4.4   ±0.4 se; Based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
High to very high vulnerability (69 of 100)
Price category (Ref. 80766)
Medium