Strongylura marina, also called the Atlantic needlefish is a common top water resident of marinas and other areas with minimal current this fish is in the family Belonidae. It's extremely long jaws and body set this fish apart from other predators. They are found from Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

 to Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 and have been known to venture into freshwater for short periods.

Geographic range

Strongylura marina is found along Western Atlantic coastal waters from Maine to southern Brazil, including areas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Atlantic needlefish are not restricted to ocean waters; they can be found in various estuaries and are capable of ascending well upstream into freshwater. S. marina is found in shallow waters throughout the Chesapeake Bay. In Texas, S. marina is known to inhabit the following drainage units: Sabine Lake (including minor coastal drainages west to Galveston Bay), Galveston Bay (including minor coastal drainages west to mouth of Brazos River), Brazos River, Colorado River, San Antonio Bay (including minor coastal drainages west of mouth of Colorado River to mouth of Nueces River), Nueces River. S. marina has also been introduced and now inhabits parts of the Tennessee River drainage throughout Alabama and Tennessee.

Ecology

As juveniles, the diet of S. marina consists of 70% shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

, mysids and amphipods

Amphipoda

Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. The name amphipoda means "different-footed", and refers to the different forms of appendages, unlike isopods, where all the legs are alike. Of the 7,000 species, 5,500 are classified...

 and 30% fish while adults are exclusively piscivorous. The predators of S. marina include larger piscivorous fish such as the Atlantic tarpon

Atlantic tarpon

The Atlantic tarpon, Megalops atlanticus, inhabits coastal waters, estuaries, lagoons, and rivers. Tarpons feed almost exclusively on schooling fish and occasionally crabs. Tarpons are capable of filling their swim bladder with air, like a primitive lung. This gives Tarpons a predatory advantage...

, Megalops atlanticus. There are also less common predators that include S. marina in their diet such as the common bottlenose dolphin

Common Bottlenose Dolphin

Tursiops truncatus, commonly known as the Common Bottlenose Dolphin, is the most well-known species from the family Delphinidae.Common bottlenose dolphins are the most familiar dolphins due to the wide exposure they receive in captivity in marine parks, dolphinarias, in movies, and television...

 (Tursiops truncatus) and juvenile lemon shark

Lemon shark

The lemon shark, Negaprion brevirostris, is a shark in the family Carcharhinidae, that can grow to long. It is known as the lemon shark because, at certain depths, light interacting with the local seawater can give this shark a tanned and yellow pitted appearance, much like the surface of a...

s (Negaprion brevirostris). Since they are surface swimmers, S. marina are preyed upon by some birds. The competitors of S. marina include similar sized piscivorous fish species such as bonefish

Bonefish

The bonefish is the type species of the Albulidae family, or bonefishes in order Albuliformes. It is amphidromous, living in inshore tropical waters, moving onto shallow mudflats to feed with the incoming tide, and retreating to deeper water as the tide ebbs...

. Although the maximum salinity of Strongylura marina is 36.9 ppt, they are able to adapt to a wide range of salinities, regularly venturing into fresh water.

Life history

Spawning typically occurs in late spring and summer. In Texas, near ripe females have been reported in February. Females lay eggs that have many long filamentous tendrils which attach to floating vegetation or other submerged objects and organisms. S. marina reaches reproductive maturity two years after being born. Spawning activity occurs in shallow inshore habitats with submerged algal masses.

S. marina depends on submerged vegetation for breeding and shelter. In the Gulf of Mexico, the eggs of S. marina attach to sargassum seaweed. S. marina is not currently listed as endangered and is not a major commercial or gamefish species. Needlefish spend their lives breeding and swimming near the surface of the water.

External links

• Strongylura marina Smithsonian Marine station at Fort Pierce