Xenentodon cancila

Taxobox
name = Needle Nose Gar


image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Beloniformes
familia = Belonidae
genus = "Xenentodon"
species = "X. cancila"
binomial = "Needle Nose Gar-Xenentodon cancila"
binomial_authority = (Hamilton, 1822)
synonyms =
"Belone cancila" Hamilton, 1882
"Esox cancila" Hamilton, 1882
The freshwater garfish, "Xenentodon cancila" is the sole member of its genus. It is found primarily in freshwater habitats,cite web|url=http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=10124|title=Species Summary for "Xenentodon cancila "|author=Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors.|publisher=FishBase|accessdate=2006-11-29] though it is sometimes found in brackish water and the sea. It is most common in rivers, but may also be found ponds, canals, and other freshwater habitats.

Common names

As a reasonably popular aquarium fish "Xenentodon cancila", has been traded under a variety of common names, including needlefish, silver needlefish, Asian freshwater needlefish, needlenose halfbeak,cite book|last=Monks|first=Neale (editor)|title=Brackish Water Fishes|journal=Tropical Fish Hobbyist|year=2006|isbn=0-7938-0564-3] freshwater gar, and numerous others. While belonging to the same family as the marine needlefish known in Europe as gar or garpike, "Belone belone", these fish are of course much more distantly related to other fishes sometimes called gars (such as the North American Lepisosteidae and South American pike characins).

Distribution

The freshwater garfish is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia from India and Sri Lanka to the Malaysian Peninsula.

Morphology

In common with other needlefish, this species has an elongate body with long, beak-like jaws filled with teeth. The dorsal and anal fins are positioned far back along the body close to the tail. The body is silvery-green, darker above and lighter below with a dark band running horizontally along the flank. Slight sexual dimorphism exists, the male fish often having anal and dorsal fins with a black edge.

Diet

While aquarium books tend to describe this fish as a predator that eats animals such as fish and frogs, its natural diet appears to consist almost entirely of crustaceans.

Reproduction

This species is oviparous. In aquaria at least, spawning takes place in the morning, with small numbers of eggs being deposited among plants. The eggs are about 3.5 mm in diameter and are attached to plant leaves with sticky threads about 20 mm long. The eggs take ten days to hatch, at which point the fry are almost 12 mm long. At this point they will eat small live foods including week-old labyrinth fish.

Human significance

Freshwater needlefish support minor fisheries and are also traded as aquarium fish.

In the aquarium

The freshwater garfish is one of a handful of needlefish species kept in public and home aquaria.cite book|last=Sterba|first=G|title=Freshwater Fishes of the World|pages=609pp|publisher=Vista Books|year=1962] It has been kept by European aquarists since 1910, and was first bred in captivity at the Biological Station Wilhelminenberg, Austria in 1963.cite book|last=Riehl|first=R|coauthors=Baensch, H|title=Aquarium Atlas (vol. 1)|publisher=Voyageur Press|year=1996|isbn=3-88244-050-3] "Xenentodon cancila" is generally considered quite a difficult species to maintain because of its large size, nervous behaviour, and preference for live foods.Monks N: Straight to the point: the Beloniformes. Practical Fishkeeping, October 2005] Alongside misunderstandings of the natural diet of these fish,Monks N: Pocket-sized Pikes. Tropical Fish Hobbyist, April 2007] there has been confusion over the optimal water conditions required by this species when kept in home aquaria, with the addition of salt to the water often being recommended. In fact these fish do perfectly well in freshwater aquaria.

As a dangerous animal

"Xenentodon cancila" has been said to be able to launch itself out of the water with such force that it can kill a human, though some ichthyologists say that this is unlikely. They are certainly capable of biting.

References