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Beloniformes (Needle fishes) >
Belonidae (Needlefishes)
Etymology: Belone: Greek, belone = needle; any fish with sharp pointed snout; also Pierre Belon, 1517-64, French zoologist born in Le Mans. Professor at the College de France, author of " La nature et diversité des poissons", 1551 (Ref. 45335).
Eponymy: Dr Pierre Belon (du Mans) (1517–1564) (pen name Petrus Bellonius Cenomanus) was a French diplomat, writer, traveller and naturalist who was deeply interested in antiquity and extolled the virtues of the Renaissance. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
More on author: Linnaeus.
Taxonomic Remarks
According to authors cited by Evenhuis (1997: Ref. 115711: 480-482), the date of publication of the species should be 1760.
Ambiente: milieu / zona climatica / distribuzione batimetrica / gamma di distribuzione
Ecologia
marino; salmastro pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromo (Ref. 51243); distribuzione batimetrica 2 - 22 m (Ref. 130220). Temperate; 65°N - 14°N, 32°W - 42°E
Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. Three subspecies were recognized by Collette and Parin (1970, Ref. 34977) Belone belone belone (Linnaeus, 1761) (Northeast Atlantic); Belone belone euxini Günther, 1866 (Black Sea and Sea of Azov); Belone belone acus Risso, 1827 (Mediterranean Sea and adjacent parts of Atlantic Ocean, Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores, and south to Cape Verde (Ref. 50279); subspecies Belone belone gracilis Lowe, 1839 (France to the Canary Islands including the Mediterranean) in Collette & Parin, 1990 (Ref. 5757).
Lunghezza alla prima maturità / Dimensione / Peso / Età
Maturità: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 104 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 123983); common length : 45.0 cm SL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 3397); peso massimo pubblicato: 1.4 kg (Ref. 113079)
Spine dorsali (totale) : 0; Raggi dorsali molli (totale) : 16 - 20; Raggi anali molli: 19 - 23. Jaw teeth comparatively large and widely spaced. Vertebrae 75-84. Vomerine teeth present at lengths greater than 20 cam. Lower jaw a little longer than upper jaw. Juveniles with greatly elongated jaw, without black posterior dorsal fin lobe.
Body shape (shape guide): elongated; Cross section: circular.
Lives close to the surface and has a migratory pattern similar to the mackerel (Ref. 35388). Feeds on small fishes, particularly clupeids and Engraulis (in the Black Sea). Leaps out of the water when hooked. Oviparous (Ref. 205). Eggs may be found attached to objects in the water by tendrils on the egg's surface (Ref. 205). Utilized fresh and frozen; can be fried, broiled and baked (Ref. 9988). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 130219.
Collette, B.B. and N.V. Parin, 1986. Belonidae. p. 604-609. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Volume 2. Unesco, Paris. (Ref. 5505)
Stato della Lista Rossa IUCN (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))
Minaccia per l'uomo
Harmless
Usi umani
Pesca: commerciale; Pesce da pesca sportiva: si
Strumenti
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Stime basate su modelli
Temperatura preferita (Fonte Biblio.
123201): 8.8 - 20, mean 11.3 °C (based on 548 cells).
Indice di diversità filogenetica (Fonte Biblio.
82804): PD
50 = 0.6250 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00102 (0.00084 - 0.00125), b=3.09 (3.03 - 3.15), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Livello trofico (Fonte Biblio.
69278): 4.2 ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Resilienza (Fonte Biblio.
120179): Medio, tempo minimo di raddoppiamento della popolazione 1.4 - 4.4 anni (tm=2; Fec=1000).
Prior r = 0.43, 95% CL = 0.28 - 0.64, Based on 6 data-limited stock assessments.
Vulnerabilità della pesca (Ref.
59153): Moderate to high vulnerability (49 of 100).
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Vulnerabilità climatica (Ref.
125649): High vulnerability (58 of 100).
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Nutrienti (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 50.7 [17.3, 178.7] mg/100g; Iron = 0.407 [0.148, 0.981] mg/100g; Protein = 17.8 [15.7, 20.3] %; Omega3 = 0.702 [0.293, 1.650] g/100g; Selenium = 9.33 [3.62, 22.32] μg/100g; VitaminA = 18.6 [5.4, 78.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.482 [0.202, 0.927] mg/100g (wet weight); based on
nutrient studies.