Black-barred Halfbeak
Hemiramphus far
Also known as: Barred Garfish, Barred Halfbeak, Black-barred Garfish, Needlefish, Spotted Halfbeak
- Barred Garfish
- Barred Halfbeak
- Black-barred Garfish
- Needlefish
- Spotted Halfbeak
Overview
The blackbarred halfbeak is a slender, silvery schooling fish with a very long, beak-like lower jaw and a row of 4 to 9 dark bars or spots along each side.
It lives in schools at the surface of very shallow water, over sand flats and seagrass beds in coastal, brackish and reef-associated waters, usually no deeper than 6m.
The body is flattened from side to side, with a bluish back, and the lopsided tail has a longer, yellowish lower lobe.
It is a plant eater, taking seagrasses, algae and diatoms near the surface. It usually measures around 30cm.
It ranges through the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea and East Africa to Samoa and Australia. Halfbeaks are themselves chased by larger fish such as tuna, and can be seen leaping into the air and appearing to skip along on their tails to get away. They can be dangerous at night, when light attracts them and they jump from the water, and their beaks have been known to cause fatalities.
Notes & fun facts
- DID YOU KNOWIt breeds in estuaries, fixing sticky, thread-like eggs to vegetation.
- DID YOU KNOWIt has spread through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea.
How to identify
- Pattern
- black spotspots
- Fins & Tail
- blue finyellow fins
- Behaviour
- leaps from waterschooling
Tap any trait to see other fish that share it.
Habitat & where to find it
- Range · Indo-West Pacific, Mediterranean
- Country only · 4
Found in schools at the surface of very shallow water, over sand flats and seagrass beds in coastal, brackish and reef-associated waters.
Adult photos 4
Discussion
No comments yet. Seen one, or got a question about it? Start the discussion.
Deep dive
Taxonomy
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classTeleostei
- orderBeloniformes
- familyHemiramphidae
- genusHemiramphus
- speciesHemiramphus far (Forsskål, 1775)
Morphology
An elongated, laterally compressed halfbeak with a very long lower jaw, silvery sides and a bluish back. The row of 4 to 9 dark bars or spots on each side and the asymmetrical tail, with its longer, yellowish lower lobe, help to pick it out.
More in the family
Halfbeaks (Hemiramphidae)
