Sargan crocodile or Hound needlefish (Tylosurus crocodilus) is the largest representative of the garfish, sometimes it is called the giant garfish. Reaches a length of just under 2 m and a weight of over 6 kg.
They are found mainly near the coast and near coral reefs. Prefers to keep in small flocks or singly. Fishermen are afraid of this fish, because at night rushing into the light, it jumps out of the water and can seriously injure the fisherman with its sharp teeth.
Sargan is a pelagic fish, i.e. lives in open waters closer to the water surface. It feeds on other small fish: anchovy, sprat, young mackerel, etc. The body of the arrow fish is very aerodynamic. She can pick up high speed, making lightning short bursts. During the hunt, the garfish can get into such excitement that it jumps out of the water after the prey fleeing. It also makes tall candles when caught by anglers.
Sargan is a valuable commercial fish. On an industrial scale, it is caught in shallow water in a net. Fishing with spinning from a boat or boat is also popular. Most often, garfish is served fried or baked. The bones of the fish are green due to biliverdin (the green pigment in bile), which discourages some from eating arrowfish, but the fish is absolutely safe.
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The Sargan family - Belonidae - have a long and slender body, covered with very small scales, and powerful elongated jaws, equipped with sharp canine-shaped teeth, distinguish them well from related families - semi-snail, flying fish, mackerel. In the course of individual development, the fry of some garfish pass through the "semi-fish stage", which indisputably testifies to the systematic closeness of these fish.
There are 9 genera and about 25 species in the sargan family. They inhabit mainly marine, but also brackish and fresh waters, mostly within the tropical and subtropical zones. Some marine species live, however, in a moderately warm-water area, while freshwater garfish, of which there are only 5 species, are found only in the tropics: they are known from the rivers of South America (Ecuador, Guiana, Brazil), Southeast Asia (from India and Ceylon to Indonesia) and Northern Australia. Two species of freshwater garfish belong to the widespread Strongylura genus, others of which live in coastal waters and occasionally enter river estuaries; the rest belong to independent, but very close in origin genera.
Garfish are found mainly near the coast, and among them there are even those that live only on coral reefs. The black-tailed garfish (Strongylura strongylura), common in bays and bays off the coast of South Asia, during low tide can remain in the drained zone, burrowing into soft silt to a depth of about half a meter. At the same time, there are also such species that go far into the open ocean. These include, in particular, the ribbon-like garfish (Ablennes hians), which is quite common in the tropical pelagic zone.
Sargans are the largest representatives of the order of garfish-like fish. The giant crocodile garfish (Tylosurus crocodilus), common in tropical waters of all oceans, reaches, for example, 150-180 cm in length. There are, however, and smaller species, the size of which does not exceed 30-40 cm. Garfish usually swim with the help of wave-like bending of the body, but they are also capable of sharp throws performed at high speed. When frightened or in pursuit of prey (all garfish are predators that feed mainly on fish), they jump out of the water, making large jumps. Sargans are often thrown out of the water in order to jump over obstacles floating on the surface of the water, which may include artificial obstacles, for example boats or rafts. In this case, large garfish can pose a significant danger to passengers. Really,there are cases when such jumps led to dangerous injuries to fishermen.
All garfish are edible fish, although in some countries there is a certain prejudice towards them due to the strange green color of their bones. Most of the garfish are harvested only for local consumption fresh, and only a few are the object of special fishing.
In Soviet waters, there are two types of garfish - the common garfish (Belone belone) and the Far Eastern garfish (Strongylura anastomella). The common, or Atlantic, garfish is common in moderately warm waters off the western and southern coasts of Europe and North Africa from Cape Verde to Iceland and Norway (some specimens were caught further north - to eastern Murman and the White Sea). This garfish is also found in the Baltic, North, Mediterranean and Black seas. It reaches a length of about 90 cm; the Black Sea form, however, does not grow to this size (length up to 66 cm, weight up to 300 g). This is a schooling predatory fish, the main food of which in the Black Sea is various small fish, mainly anchovy, after which garfish enter the Sea of Azov in the spring. The spawning of the common garfish occurs in the coastal strip, and the eggs,equipped with sticky filaments, attach to algae and sea grass. In the Azov-Black Sea basin, the garfish, called by the locals "igloi", has some economic importance, and recently even a proposal was made about the desirability of introducing this fish into the Caspian Sea.
The Far Eastern garfish is common in the seas washing the coasts of Japan, Korea, and North China. In our waters, it is found only in the summer off the coast of South Primorye. This garfish, which has a length of up to 90 cm, sometimes gets caught in fixed nets in the Peter the Great Bay, but due to its small numbers it has no commercial value.