Ablennes hians, Flat needlefish : fisheries, gamefish

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Ablennes hians (Valenciennes, 1846)

Flat needlefish
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Ablennes hians   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Ablennes hians (Flat needlefish)
Ablennes hians
Male Picture by Freitas, R.

Qatar territory information

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

Common names from other countries

Orphie plate, Agujón sable, Barred longtom, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Beloniformes (Needle fishes) > Belonidae (Needlefishes)
Etymology: Ablennes: Greek, a = without + Greek, blennos = mucus (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Valenciennes.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 3 m (Ref. 58047). Subtropical; 43°N - 37°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Worldwide distribution in tropical and warm temperate waters. Eastern Atlantic: Cape Verde and Dakar to Moçamedes, Angola (Ref. 5757); ranging further south to Namibia (Ref. 12484). Western Atlantic: Chesapeake Bay (USA), Bermuda, and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil (Ref. 7251). Throughout the Indian Ocean. Western Pacific: off coasts and islands from southern Japan through the East Indies to Australia (Ref. 9682). Reported from Tuvalu (Ref. 12690). Eastern Pacific: Mexico to Peru. Entire Caribbean, Antilles and South American coast to Rio de Janeiro (Ref. 26938).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 140 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 70.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9279); max. published weight: 4.8 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 23 - 26; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 24 - 28; Vertebrae: 86 - 93. Dark bluish dorsally, silvery white ventrally with black blotches on middle of body (Ref. 5317). Body greatly compressed laterally; anterior parts of dorsal and anal fins with high falcate lobes. Pectoral fins falcate; about 12-14 prominent dark vertical bars on body; juveniles and adults have an elevated black lobe in the posterior part of the dorsal fin.
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits neritic and oceanic waters but more often found near islands (Ref. 5213). Found in estuaries (Ref. 26340), and coastal rivers (Ref. 33587). Sometimes forming large schools (Ref. 5217). Feeds mainly on small fishes (Ref. 9279). Oviparous (Ref. 205). Eggs may be found attached to objects in the water by filaments on the egg's surface (Ref. 205). Since the jaws are frequently broken, the maximum length is given as body length excluding head and caudal fin. Usually caught with the help of artificial lights (Ref. 9279). Marketed fresh and salted; smoked or frozen (Ref. 9987). Market limited due to the green-colored flesh (Ref. 5217). In females, only left gonad is developed, and in males the right gonad is small or absent (Ref. 26938).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Collette, Bruce B. | Collaborators

Collette, B.B., 1999. Belonidae. Needlefishes. p. 2151-2161. In K.E. Carpenter and V.H. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 4. Bony fishes part 2 (Mugilidae to Carangidae). FAO, Rome. (Ref. 9682)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 20 August 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
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Predators
Ecology
Ecology
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Length-weight rel.
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References

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 22.6 - 29.2, mean 27.9 °C (based on 4228 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6250   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00089 (0.00053 - 0.00151), b=3.10 (2.96 - 3.24), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.66 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 1.8 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Assuming tmax>3; K=0.6).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate vulnerability (40 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High to very high vulnerability (74 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 40.3 [10.1, 162.5] mg/100g; Iron = 0.555 [0.225, 1.432] mg/100g; Protein = 18.8 [16.7, 20.9] %; Omega3 = 0.168 [0.064, 0.510] g/100g; Selenium = 13.3 [5.2, 39.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 36.3 [8.3, 189.8] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.516 [0.290, 0.962] mg/100g (wet weight);