Scientific Name	Strongylura anastomella   Pronounce			by: Lab of Fish Ecol. and Evo., BRCAS
Author	(Valenciennes, 1846)	Depth	0 - 10M
Chinese	尖嘴圓尾鶴鱵	Poisonous Fish	No
Family_Chinese	鶴鱵科	Economic Fish	Yes
Family	F255　Belonidae	Edible Fish	Yes	Chinese In Mainland China	尖嘴柱頜針魚
Max Length	100 cm	Aquarium Fish	No	Common Name	鶴鱵、青旗、學仔、白天青旗
Distribution in World	North West Pacific Ocean	Distribution in Taiwan	West
Habitats	Ocean、Coastal	Holotype Locality	China
Synonyms	Ablennes anastomella, Belone anastomella, Belone esocina, Belone gracilis, Tylosurus issajewi
Reference	臺灣魚類誌(沈等, 1993)；Fish of Japan(Nakabo, 2002)  沈世傑 編 Shih-Chieh Shen ed. 1993 Nakabo T. 2002
Specimen List	ASIZP0065064. NMMBP04370. NMMBP04437. NMMBP05262. NMMBP06517. NMMSTP00606.
Common Name	Needlefish
Redlist Status	Not in IUCN Redlist
Characteristic	Body elongate, slightly compressed, almost rectangular in cross-section. Head large. Upper and lower jaws greatly elongate and studded with sharp teeth; upper surface of head with prominent ridges; gill rakers absent. Anterior parts of dorsal and anal fins forming well-developed lobes; dorsal-fin rays 18 to 20; anal-fin rays 21 to 23; pectoral fins not falcate; caudal peduncle without lateral keels; caudal fin emarginate, not deeply forked. Scales on head small; opercle without scales; predorsal scales moderately large, 195 to 230. Body dark grey with narrow silver lateral stripe, ventral surface white; prominent elongate spot between opercle and preopercle above level with pectoral-fin origin; cheeks with clumped patches of melanophores; fins clear with scattered melanophores, pectoral fin with a slight yellow tinge.
habitats	Inhabits coastal areas, particularly near coral reefs. Carnivorous, feeding mainly on small fishes.
Distribution	Distributed in the Northwest Pacific from Japan to Taiwan. It is found in western Taiwanese waters, and Penghu Is..
Utility	Marketed fresh.