Cuba country information

Common names: Balao, Balao, Blue-tailed balao
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: common (usually seen) | Ref: Claro, R., 1994
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Generally of no interest to fisheries. Also Ref. 3723, 26340.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Claro, R. and L.R. Parenti, 2001
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Demi-bec balaou, Agujeta balaju, Balao, ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Beloniformes (Needle fishes) > Hemiramphidae (Halfbeaks)
Etymology: Hemiramphus: Greek, hemi = half + Greek, rhamphos = bill, peak (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Lesueur.

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

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 5 m (Ref. 3723). Subtropical; 41°N - 13°S, 98°W - 14°E

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

Western Atlantic: New York, USA and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil (Ref. 7251); including the Caribbean Sea (Ref. 3723). Eastern Atlantic: from Morocco to the Canary Islands (Ref. 57227) and in the Gulf of Guinea from Victoria, Nigeria to south to Luanda, Angola (Ref. 4497). Reported from Côte d'Ivoire (Ref. 28587, 57227).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3633); common length : 35.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3633)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11-15; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 10 - 13. Diagnosis: body elongate; lower jaw forming long, narrow beak; upper jaw short, triangular and scaled; absence of scales on snout; no preorbital crest between eye and nasal pit; pelvic fins abdominal; dorsal and anal fins placed far back on body and spineless; caudal fin deeply forked (Ref. 57227).

An inshore, surface-dwelling fish which forms sizeable schools (Ref. 3723). Feeds on small fishes and plankton (Ref. 3723). Mainly used as bait for offshore game fishes such as sailfishes and marlins; utilized as a food fish in the West Indies (Ref. 3723). Minimum depth range from Ref. 84211.

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. and N.V. Parin, 1990. Hemiramphidae. p. 579-582. In J.C. Quero, J.C. Hureau, C. Karrer, A. Post and L. Saldanha (eds.) Check-list of the fishes of the eastern tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA). JNICT, Lisbon; SEI, Paris; and UNESCO, Paris. Vol. 2. (Ref. 4497)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 21 August 2012

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; bait: usually

FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

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Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 21.1 - 28.1, mean 27.2 (based on 1007 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5005 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00339 (0.00169 - 0.00679), b=3.09 (2.92 - 3.26), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.9 ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low to moderate vulnerability (30 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Medium.

Hemiramphus balao Lesueur, 1821