Gars are members of the family Lepisosteidae which are the only surviving members of Ginglymodi, an ancient holosteian group of ray-finned fish which first appeared during the Triassic, over 240 million years ago. Gars comprise seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine waters of eastern North America, Central America and Cuba in the Caribbean, though extinct members of the family were more widespread. Gars have elongated bodies that are heavily armored with ganoid scales, and fronted by similarly elongated jaws filled with long, sharp teeth. Gars are sometimes referred to as "garpike", but are not closely related to pike, which are in the fish family Esocidae. All of the gars are relatively large fish, but the alligator gar is the largest – the alligator gar often grows to a length of over 2 m (6.5 ft) and a weight of over 45 kg (100 lb), and specimens of up to 3 m (9.8 ft) in length have been reported. Unusually, their vascularised swim bladders can function as lungs, and most gars surface periodically to take a gulp of air. Gar flesh is edible and the hard skin and scales of gars are used by humans, but gar eggs are highly toxic.
Hemiramphidae is a family of fishes that are commonly called halfbeaks, spipe fish or spipefish. They are a geographically widespread and numerically abundant family of epipelagic fish inhabiting warm waters around the world. The halfbeaks are named for their distinctive jaws, in which the lower jaws are significantly longer than the upper jaws. The similar viviparous halfbeaks have often been included in this family.
Needlefish or long toms 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, while a few genera are confined to freshwater rivers and streams, including Belonion, Potamorrhaphis, and Xenentodon. Needlefish closely resemble North American freshwater gars in being elongated and having long, narrow jaws filled with sharp teeth, and some species of needlefishes are referred to as gars or garfish despite being only distantly related to the true gars. In fact, the name "garfish" was originally used for the needlefish Belone belone in Europe and only later applied to the North American fishes by European settlers during the 18th century.
Sauries are fish of the family Scomberesocidae. There are two genera, each containing two species. The name Scomberesocidae is derived from the scomber, which in turn is derived from the Greek skombros, meaning "mackerel", and the Latin esox meaning pike.
The Atlantic horse mackerel, also known as the European horse mackerel or common scad, is a species of jack mackerel in the family Carangidae, the jacks, pompanos and trevallies. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean off Europe and Africa and into the south-eastern Indian Ocean. It is an important species in commercial fisheries and is listed as a Vulnerable species on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The garfish, also known as the garpike 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.
Hyporhamphus ihi, the garfish or piper, is a halfbeak found all around New Zealand in shallow inshore waters.
Xenentodon cancila, the freshwater garfish, is a species of needlefish found in freshwater and brackish habitats in South and Southeast Asia.
The mutton snapper is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lutjanidae. It is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean.
Belone is a genus of needlefish common in brackish and marine waters. It is one of ten genera in the family Belonidae.
Montagu's blenny, also known as the capuchin blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in the intertidal zones of the eastern Atlantic ocean from England to Madeira and the Canary Islands as well the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. This species prefers rocky shores with much wave action. This species grows to a length of 7.6 centimetres (3.0 in) SL. It is the only species in the genus Coryphoblennius.
The mackerel icefish is a benthopelagic species of fish found in the Southern Ocean and the southernmost waters of the Atlantic Ocean. They are mainly to be found near Heard and McDonald Islands, Îles Kerguelen and islands in the south Atlantic such as South Georgia and Bouvet Island. The species also inhabits the northern waters of the Antarctic Peninsula. They live at depths of 0–700 metres (0–2,297 ft), but are commonly found at depths of 30 to 250 metres.
The Chilean jack mackerel, sometimes called the Inca scad or Peruvian jack mackerel, is a species of jack mackerel in the genus Trachurus of the family Carangidae. Since the 1970s, it has become one of the world's more important commercial fish species. High volumes have been harvested, but the fishery may now be in danger of collapsing.
Tylosurus is a genus of needlefish, one of ten in the family Belonidae. They are found worldwide in tropical and warmer temperate seas and two species have been recorded as Lessepsian migrants in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
Trachurus lathami is a species of fish in the family Carangidae and the genus Trachurus, the jack mackerels. Common names include rough scad and horse mackerel in English, as well as chinchard frappeur (French), chicharro garretón (Spanish), jurel, and carapau, garaçuma, surel, and xixarro. It is native to parts of the western Atlantic Ocean, including seas off the eastern coasts of North and South America and the Gulf of Mexico.
Tylosurus choram, the Red Sea houndfish, is a species of needlefish from the family Belonidae. A marine fish bluish in color with a long slender body, and a pointed long toothed beak, found in most temperate, warm seas, and sometimes rivers, It's found in abundance in the Red Sea. It is a fast predator swimming in small schools near the water surface. Like other species of needlefish this species is oviparous, laying eggs which attach themselves to objects in the water by means of filaments which cover the outer layer of the egg. Tylosurus choram is found in the Red Sea and the coasts around the Arabian Peninsula to the Gulf of Oman, it also occurs in the eastern Mediterranean Sea having colonised that sea via the Suez Canal, a Lessepsian migration. This species was described as Belone choram by Eduard Rüppell in 1837 with the type locality given as the Red Sea, the specific name choram is Arabic for needlefish.
Orthopristis chrysoptera, the pigfish, hogfish, redmouth grunt or sailor's choice, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a ″grunt belonging to the family Haemulidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. This name derives from the grunting or chattering noise these fish make by rubbing their pharyngeal teeth together.
The long tom or freshwater longtom is a species of euryhaline needlefish native to Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea.: This species occurs in the coastal rivers of tropical Australia and New Guinea. In Australia it has been recorded from the Fitzroy River in Western Australia to the Dawson River in Queensland. It is found in areas of still or flowing water in larger rivers from the tidal reaches to far inland and adults are infrequently recorded in coastal marine waters. Preferred habitats include river channels, floodplain lagoons, muddy creeks and billabongs where it often shelters below overhanging vegetation or among submerged roots. It is a nocturnal hunter of small fishes, crustaceans and insects with the adults being almost exclusively piscivorous, ambushing their prey from cover. Strongylura krefftii was described as Belone krefftii by Albert Günther in 1866 with the type locality given as "Australia ". The specific name honours the Australian zoologist Gerard Krefft (1830-1881) who presented Günther with the type.
Platybelone lovii is a species of needlefish from the family Belonidae. It is a predatory, pelagic fish which is endemic to the eastern Atlantic Ocean in the waters around Cape Verde. This species was described by Albert Günther in 1866 as Belone lovii and was named in honour of the British naturalist Richard Thomas Lowe (1802-1874).
Gvozdarus svetovidovi, the naked-head toothfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Nototheniidae, the notothens or cod icefishes. It is found in the Ross and Cooperation Seas, probably south of the Antarctic Polar Front from pelagic waters down to depths of 550 m (1,804 ft), though it is normally found in a pelagic environment.
