Garfish

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title: "Garfish" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["belone", "fish-of-europe", "fish-of-the-mediterranean-sea", "fish-of-the-black-sea", "fish-of-the-north-sea", "fish-of-the-baltic-sea", "fauna-of-macaronesia", "marine-fish-of-north-africa", "fish-described-in-1761", "animal-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus"] description: "Species of fish" topic_path: "general/belone" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garfish" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Species of fish ::

| 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 = | 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

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Belone_belone_-_Sardegna.JPG" caption="Sardegna"] ::

The garfish is a long and slender fish with a laterally compressed body, and grows to about 50 to 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. 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".

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".

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.

Subspecies

The following subspecies of Belone belone have been recognised:

• 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 while other authorities treat B. b. acus as the species Belone acus, which is synonymous with B. b. gracilis. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Belone_belone,_Greece.jpg" caption="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.

Gallery

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

References

References

1. Collette, B.B.. (2015). "''Belone belone''".
2. (2013). "Biliverdin: the blue-green pigment in the bones of the garfish (Belone belone) and eelpout (Zoarces viviparus)". European Food Research and Technology.
3. "Garfish: ''Belone belone''". NatureGate.
4. (March 2006). "Trophic strategies of garfish, Arrhamphus sclerolepis, in natural coastal wetlands and artificial urban waterways". Marine Biology.
5. Langmead, O.. (2008). "''Belone belone'' Garfish". PMarine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth.
6. "Garfish". britishseafishing.co.uk.
7. {{FishBase. Belone. belone. (2019)
8. {{FishBase. Belone. euxini. (2019)
9. {{Cof genus
10. (2022-01-30). "Hornfisk sæson i 2025".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::