Small garfish
Platybelone argalus (Lesueur, 1821)
Status not recordedbony fish
The small garfish (Platybelone argalus) is a species in the family Belonidae, order Beloniformes.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the small garfish
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the small garfish live?
Not recorded
Is the small garfish endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the small garfish classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classTeleostei
- orderBeloniformes
- familyBelonidae
- genusPlatybelone
- SpeciesPlatybelone argalus (Lesueur, 1821)
Synonyms Belona argalus, Belone ardeola, Platybelone aegulus, Platybelone argala, Platybelone argalus argalus, Strongylura ardeola, Strongylura longleyi
Other names and names in other languages (18)
- Flat-tail longtomEnglish
- Flat-tailed long tomEnglish
- Flat-tailed long-tomEnglish
- Keeltail needlefishEnglish
- سمك الإبرة عارضي الذيلArabic
- jehlice kýloocasáCzech
- Kølhalet hornfiskDanish
- HornhechtGerman
- agujón aquilladoSpanish
- Orphie carèneFrench
- KielstaartgeepDutch
- Guepi Awa BlankuPapiamento
- Peixe-agulha-tropicalPortuguese
- Обыкновенный аргалRussian
- 东非宽尾颌针鱼Chinese
- agujón de quillaSpanish
- Orphie carénéeFrench
- 寬尾鶴鱵Chinese
Relatives of the small garfish
Other species in the same genus Platybelone.
Cape Verde needlefish
Platybelone lovii
Annobon needlefish
Platybelone annobonensis
Mirror needlefish
Platybelone platura
Bennett's needlefish
Platybelone platyura
Baja California needlefish
Platybelone pterura
Saint Helena needlefish
Platybelone trachura
CompareSmall garfish vs Cape Verde needlefishSmall garfish vs Annobon needlefishSmall garfish vs Mirror needlefishSmall garfish vs Bennett's needlefish
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
What kind of animal is the small garfish?
The small garfish (Platybelone argalus) belongs to the family Belonidae in the order Beloniformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Small garfish (Platybelone argalus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/small-garfish
“Small garfish (Platybelone argalus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/small-garfish.
@misc{small_garfish_2026,
title = {Small garfish (Platybelone argalus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/small-garfish},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}