''Tylosurus fodiator'', the Mexican needlefish, is a species of

needlefish Needlefish (family Belonidae) or long toms are piscivorous fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea. Some genera include species found in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments (e.g., ...

from the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Belonidae Needlefish (Family (biology), family Belonidae) or long toms are piscivorous bony fish, fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea. Some genera include species found in marine, brackish, and fre ...

which is found only in the eastern Pacific, from the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

south to Ecuador including the Galapagos, Cocos and Malpelo Islands. It was previously considered to be a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the

houndfish The houndfish, or more specifically the crocodile needlefish (''Tylosurus crocodilus'') is a game fish of the family Belonidae, the needlefishes. It is the largest member of its family, growing up to in length and in weight. Taxonomy The houndf ...

but is now regarded as valid species. This species is normally encountered close to the coast but can be found in offshore waters. It is a predatory species, feeding mainly on small fishes. They lay eggs which adhere to objects in the water by filaments which cover the outer layer of the eggs. This species was described in 1882 by

David Starr Jordan David Starr Jordan (January 19, 1851 – September 19, 1931) was the founding president of Stanford University, serving from 1891 to 1913. He was an ichthyologist during his research career. Prior to serving as president of Stanford Universi ...

and

Charles Henry Gilbert Charles Henry Gilbert (December 5, 1859 in Rockford, Illinois – April 20, 1928 in Palo Alto, California) was a pioneer ichthyologist and Fisheries science, fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western Unit ...

with the type locality given as

Mazatlán Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican list of states of Mexico, state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding , known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast across from th ...

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

, western Mexico.

References

{{Taxonbar, From=Q28802726

fodiator ''Fodiator'' is a genus of flying fishes. It is the only genus in the subfamily Fodiatorinae. Etymology ''Fodiator'' means "one who stab," likely a reference to the long, thin, sharp snout with its projecting lower jaw. About ''Fodiator'' speci ...

Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert Fish described in 1882 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN