Belonidae Bonaparte 1835

Angulo, Arturo, Betts, Joel T., González-Alemán, Néstor J., Castañeda, Edgar, Berghe, Eric Van Den, Elías, Diego J., Mcmahan, Caleb D. & Matamoros, Wilfredo A., 2023, Continental fishes of Nicaragua: diversity, distribution and conservation status; with an annotated and illustrated checklist of species and an identification guide to families, Zootaxa 5376 (1), pp. 1-89 : 64

Family Belonidae Bonaparte 1835 ( Fig. 4I ). Needlefishes, Houndfishes; Agujas, Agujones, Maraos

Description: Body slender; up to 150 cm (even 200 cm) in length, usually less than 100 cm; both upper and lower jaws extend into long beaks with numerous needle-like teeth; mouth opening large; scales small (usually 130–350 in lateral line and easily detached); dorsal- and anal-fin origins usually behind mid-body; dorsal-fin rays usually 11–26, up to 43; anal-fin rays 12–39; no isolated finlets behind the dorsal and anal fins ( Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Marine and freshwater; Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, tropical to warm temperate waters (Nelson et al. 2016). Three genera and five species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Families of continental fishes of Nicaragua, part 3; Achiridae (A), Carangidae (B), Cichlidae (C), Pomacentridae (D), Atherinopsidae (E), Rivulidae (F), Poeciliidae (G), Anablepidae (H), Belonidae (I), Hemiramphidae (J), Mugilidae (K), Gobiesocidae (L), Dactyloscopidae (M) and Lutjanidae (N). Illustrations adapted (with permission) from Nelson et al. (2016) and Angulo et al. (2021).