Hemiramphus balao, Balao halfbeak : fisheries, bait

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Hemiramphus balao Lesueur, 1821

Balao halfbeak
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Hemiramphus balao   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Hemiramphus balao (Balao halfbeak)
Hemiramphus balao
Female picture by Freitas, R.

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: Lm ?  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).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

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

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; bait: usually
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 21.1 - 28.1, mean 27.2 °C (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.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 79.2 [27.5, 252.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.831 [0.317, 2.037] mg/100g; Protein = 19.3 [16.7, 21.8] %; Omega3 = 0.188 [0.071, 0.570] g/100g; Selenium = 15.3 [5.2, 42.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 27.3 [5.6, 150.6] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.02 [0.54, 1.80] mg/100g (wet weight);