Atlantic Needlefish

S. marina is found along western Atlantic coastal waters from Maine to southern Brazil, including areas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Atlantic needlefish are not restricted to ocean waters; they can be found in various estuaries and are capable of ascending well upstream into fresh water. S. marina is found in shallow waters throughout the Chesapeake Bay there depth max is 5 ft. In Texas, S. marina is known to inhabit these drainage units: Sabine Lake (including minor coastal drainages west to Galveston Bay), Galveston Bay (including minor coastal drainages west to mouth of Brazos River), Brazos River, Colorado River, San Antonio Bay (including minor coastal drainages west of mouth of Colorado River to the mouth of Nueces River), and Nueces River. S.

The Atlantic Needlefish eat a variety of things based on their body composition. Their diet can range from feeding on shrimp, small fish such as killifishes and silversides. Besides shrimp, small fish, they eat various zooplankton, ranging from zoobenthos to nekton.Their ability to eat is to patiently stalk their prey then goes into the attack by tilting its long pointed mouth sideways into its scissor-like jaw.

As juveniles, the diet of S. marina consists of 70% shrimp, mysids, and amphipods and 30% fish, while adults are exclusively piscivorous.

The predators of S. marina include larger piscivorous fish such as the Atlantic tarpon (Megalops atlanticus). Less common predators include the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris). Since they are surface swimmers, Atlantic needlefish are also preyed upon by some birds. The competitors of S. marina include similar-sized piscivorous fish species such as bonefish. Although the maximum salinity S. marina can tolerate is 36.9 ppt, they are able to adapt to a wide range of salinities, regularly venturing into fresh water.

S. marina is not currently considered to be a threatened species. It is not of high commercial importance, but a fishery exists for it and it is sometimes taken as bycatch. Sport fishermen take it by angling and seining, and then use it as bait. Located is Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica, the Atlantic Needlefish spend majority of their time offshore. However, few days before the full moon, large schools of the Atlantic Needlefish gather at particular beaches around the gulf to spawn. This event tends to occur in a specific time during the lunar cycle, and it only occurs in a few locations. This event has been occurring for a long time, and for generations, local families have taken advantage of the opportunity to fish, which has been now a tradition that is now limited to preserve local needlefish populations.