Fish of the Belone genus of the Belonidae (Needlefish) family of the Scomberesocoidea superfamily of the Belonoidei suborder of the Beloniformes order of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Garfish. Photo © lagunaproject.it)
Garfish (Belone belone) was first described in 1761 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778).
Pelagic schooling fish species. It is a pelagic schooling species. It swims near the surface and often comes close to the coast. The maximum recorded length is 93 cm; specimens up to 45 cm long are more common. The maximum weight is 1.3 kilograms. It feeds on small fish. European garfish is a thermophilic fish that migrates to the shore in spring and summer. When the water becomes colder, it moves to deeper areas and spends the winter with little or no activity.
(Garfish. Photo by © Joaquín Gutiérrez. “Silver”. subscribe.ru)
It is a permanent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
Names of garfish (Belone belone) in other languages are as follows:
Peshku lejlek (Albanian), Зарган (Zargan) (Bulgarian), Geep (Dutch), Ζαργάνα (Zargána) (Greek), Belon (Hebrew), Aguja (Spanish), Aguglia (Italian), Gewöhnlicher Hornhecht (German), Belona pospolita (Polish), Agulha (Portuguese), Zărgan (Romanian), Европейский сарган (Evropejskij sargan) (Russian), Iglica (Serbian, Slovenian, Croatian), Zargana (Turkish), Orphie (French), Jehlice rohozobá (Czech).