Strongylura
| Strongylura | |
|---|---|
| |
| Atlantic Needlefish (S. marina) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Beloniformes |
| Family: | Belonidae |
| Genus: | Strongylura van Hasselt, 1824 |
| Type species | |
| Strongylura caudimaculata van Hasselt, 1824[1]
| |
Strongylura is a genus of needlefishes from the family Belonidae which is distributed throughout the tropical and warmer temperate waters of the world, including some species which live in freshwater.
Species
Currently, there are 14 recognized species in this genus:[2]
- Strongylura anastomella (Valenciennes, 1846)
- Strongylura exilis (Girard, 1854) (Californian needlefish)
- Strongylura fluviatilis (Regan, 1903)
- Strongylura hubbsi Collette, 1974 (Maya needlefish)
- Strongylura incisa (Valenciennes, 1846) (reef needlefish)
- Strongylura krefftii (Günther, 1866) (long tom)
- Strongylura leiura (Bleeker, 1850) (banded needlefish)
- Strongylura marina (Walbaum, 1792) (Atlantic needlefish)
- Strongylura notata (Poey, 1860)
- Strongylura scapularis (D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1882) (shoulderspot needlefish)
- Strongylura senegalensis (Valenciennes, 1846) (Senegal needlefish)
- Strongylura strongylura (van Hasselt, 1823) (spottail needlefish)
- Strongylura timucu (Walbaum, 1792) (timucu)
- Strongylura urvillii (Valenciennes, 1846) (Urville's longtom)
Strongylura is thought to not be monophyletic;[3] the following cladogram is based on a phylogenetic analysis of both genetics and morphology by Lovejoy (2007), with Strongylura being represented as polyphyletic with respects to other belonids:[4]
References
- ^ Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Strongylura". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Strongylura". FishBase. April 2019 version.
- ^ Bruce B. Collette (September 2003). "Family Belonidae Bonaparte 1832" (PDF). Annotated Checklist of Fishes. 16. California Academy of Sciences. ISSN 1545-150X.
- ^ Lovejoy, Nathan R. (9 May 2007). "REINTERPRETING RECAPITULATION: SYSTEMATICS OF NEEDLEFISHES AND THEIR ALLIES (TELEOSTEI: BELONIFORMES)". Society for the Study of Evolution. doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2000.tb00567.x. Retrieved 5 February 2026.