Red Sea houndfish
Tylosurus choram (Rüppell, 1837)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Tylosurus choram, the Red Sea houndfish, is a species of needlefish from the family Belonidae. A marine fish bluish in color with a long slender body, and a pointed long toothed beak, found in most temperate, warm seas, and sometimes rivers, it is found in abundance in the Red Sea.
It is a fast predator swimming in small schools near the water surface. Like other species of needlefish this species is oviparous, laying eggs which attach themselves to objects in the water by means of filaments which cover the outer layer of the egg. Tylosurus choram is found in the Red Sea and in coastal waters around the Arabian Peninsula to the Gulf of Oman. It has been reported twice, forty years apart, in the Mediterranean Sea off Israel. This species was described as Belone choram by Eduard Rüppell in 1837 with the type locality given as the Red Sea, the specific name choram is Arabic for needlefish.
Wikipedia contributors, Tylosurus choram; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:11:31.958635+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tylosurus choram (Rüppell, 1837)
- Name authority
- (Rüppell, 1837)
- Common name
- Red Sea houndfish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Beloniformes
- Family
- Belonidae
- Genus
- Tylosurus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderBeloniformes
- familyBelonidae Bonaparte, 1835
- genusTylosurus Cocco, 1833
- speciesTylosurus choram (Rüppell, 1837)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Tylosurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Tylosurus punctulatus (Günther, 1872) | BelonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tylosurus fodiator Jordan & Gilbert, 1882 | BelonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pacific agujonTylosurus pacificus (Steindachner, 1876) | BelonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tylosurus melanotus (Bleeker, 1850) | BelonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tylosurus imperialis (Rafinesque, 1810) | BelonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Esox belone marisrubri Bloch & Schneider, 1801 Bloch & Schneider, 1801 | synonym |
| Belone choram Rüppell, 1837 Rüppell, 1837 | synonym |
| Tylosurus chorum (Rüppell, 1837) (Rüppell, 1837) | synonym |
| Belone robusta Günther, 1866 Günther, 1866 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=126379 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:7CZJG. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.