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Hub AI
Halfbeak AI simulator
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Hub AI
Halfbeak AI simulator
(@Halfbeak_simulator)
Halfbeak
Hemiramphidae is a family of fishes that are commonly called halfbeaks, spipe fish or spipefish. They are a geographically widespread and numerically abundant family of epipelagic fish inhabiting warm waters around the world. The halfbeaks are named for their distinctive jaws, in which the lower jaws are significantly longer than the upper jaws. The similar viviparous halfbeaks (family Zenarchopteridae) have often been included in this family.
Though not commercially important themselves, these forage fish support artisanal fisheries and local markets worldwide. They are also fed upon by other commercially important predatory fishes, such as billfishes, mackerels, and sharks.
In 1758, Carl Linnaeus was the first to scientifically describe a halfbeak, Esox brasiliensis (now Hemiramphus brasiliensis). In 1775 Peter Forsskål described two more species as Esox, Esox far and Esox marginatus. In 1816, Georges Cuvier created the genus Hemiramphus; from then on, all three were classified as Hemiramphus. In 1859, Theodore Nicholas Gill erected the Hemiramphidae, deriving their name from Hemiramphus, the family's type genus. The name comes from the Greek hemi, meaning half, and rhamphos, meaning beak or bill.
Currently, eight genera (including 60 species) are placed within the family Hemiramphidae:
This family is primarily marine and found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, though some inhabit estuaries and rivers.
The halfbeaks' fossil record extends into the Lower Tertiary. The earliest known halfbeak is "Hemiramphus" edwardsi from the Eocene at Monte Bolca, Italy, although its attribution to the extant Hemiramphus is doubtful. Apart from differences in the length of the upper and lower jaws, recent and fossil halfbeaks are distinguished by the fusion of the third pair of upper pharyngeal bones into a plate.
The phylogeny of the halfbeaks is in a state of flux.
On the one hand, there is little question that they are most closely related to three other families of streamlined, surface water fishes: the flyingfishes, needlefishes, and sauries. Traditionally, these four families have been taken to comprise the order Beloniformes. The halfbeaks and flyingfishes are considered to form one group, the superfamily Exocoetoidea, and the needlefishes and sauries another, the superfamily Scomberesocoidea.
Halfbeak
Hemiramphidae is a family of fishes that are commonly called halfbeaks, spipe fish or spipefish. They are a geographically widespread and numerically abundant family of epipelagic fish inhabiting warm waters around the world. The halfbeaks are named for their distinctive jaws, in which the lower jaws are significantly longer than the upper jaws. The similar viviparous halfbeaks (family Zenarchopteridae) have often been included in this family.
Though not commercially important themselves, these forage fish support artisanal fisheries and local markets worldwide. They are also fed upon by other commercially important predatory fishes, such as billfishes, mackerels, and sharks.
In 1758, Carl Linnaeus was the first to scientifically describe a halfbeak, Esox brasiliensis (now Hemiramphus brasiliensis). In 1775 Peter Forsskål described two more species as Esox, Esox far and Esox marginatus. In 1816, Georges Cuvier created the genus Hemiramphus; from then on, all three were classified as Hemiramphus. In 1859, Theodore Nicholas Gill erected the Hemiramphidae, deriving their name from Hemiramphus, the family's type genus. The name comes from the Greek hemi, meaning half, and rhamphos, meaning beak or bill.
Currently, eight genera (including 60 species) are placed within the family Hemiramphidae:
This family is primarily marine and found in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, though some inhabit estuaries and rivers.
The halfbeaks' fossil record extends into the Lower Tertiary. The earliest known halfbeak is "Hemiramphus" edwardsi from the Eocene at Monte Bolca, Italy, although its attribution to the extant Hemiramphus is doubtful. Apart from differences in the length of the upper and lower jaws, recent and fossil halfbeaks are distinguished by the fusion of the third pair of upper pharyngeal bones into a plate.
The phylogeny of the halfbeaks is in a state of flux.
On the one hand, there is little question that they are most closely related to three other families of streamlined, surface water fishes: the flyingfishes, needlefishes, and sauries. Traditionally, these four families have been taken to comprise the order Beloniformes. The halfbeaks and flyingfishes are considered to form one group, the superfamily Exocoetoidea, and the needlefishes and sauries another, the superfamily Scomberesocoidea.