Belonidae Bonaparte 1835

Family Belonidae Bonaparte 1835 View in CoL View at ENA ( Fig. 4I View FIGURE 4 ). Needlefishes, Houndfishes; Agujas, Agujones, Maraos

Description: Body slender; up to 150 cm (even 200 cm) in length, usually less than 100 cm; both upper and lower jaws extend into long beaks with numerous needle-like teeth; mouth opening large; scales small (usually 130–350 in lateral line and easily detached); dorsal- and anal-fin origins usually behind mid-body; dorsal-fin rays usually 11–26, up to 43; anal-fin rays 12–39; no isolated finlets behind the dorsal and anal fins ( Robertson & Allen 2015, Nelson et al. 2016). Distribution: Marine and freshwater; Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, tropical to warm temperate waters ( Nelson et al. 2016). Three genera and five species in Nicaraguan freshwaters.