flat needlefish
Ablennes hians (Valenciennes, 1846)
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
The flat needlefish (Ablennes hians), or barred longtom, the only known member of the genus Ablennes, is a marine fish of the family Belonidae. Flat needlefish are considered gamefish, frequently caught with the help of artificial lights, but are not often eaten because of their green-colored flesh.
The generic name Ablennes – formerly misspelled Athlennes – means 'without mucosity', from the ancient Greek privative a- prefix and blennos ('mucus').
Its specific name hians is Latin for "gaping".
Wikipedia contributors, Flat needlefish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:00:44.996484+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ablennes hians (Valenciennes, 1846)
- Name authority
- (Valenciennes, 1846)
- Common name
- flat needlefish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Beloniformes
- Family
- Belonidae
- Genus
- Ablennes
- 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
- genusAblennes Jordan & Fordice, 1887
- speciesAblennes hians (Valenciennes, 1846)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Mastaccembelus melanostigma (Valenciennes, 1846) (Valenciennes, 1846) | synonym |
| Athlennes hians (Valenciennes, 1846) (Valenciennes, 1846) | synonym |
| Tylosurus caeruleofasciatus Stead, 1908 Stead, 1908 | synonym |
| Tylosurus hians (Valenciennes, 1846) (Valenciennes, 1846) | synonym |
| Ablennes hians pacificus Walford, 1936 Walford, 1936 | synonym |
| Belone hians Valenciennes, 1846 Valenciennes, 1846 | synonym |
| Belone maculata Poey, 1860 Poey, 1860 | synonym |
| Belone melanostigma Valenciennes, 1846 Valenciennes, 1846 | synonym |
| Belone schismatorhynchus Bleeker, 1850 Bleeker, 1850 | synonym |
| Blennes hians (Valenciennes, 1846) (Valenciennes, 1846) | synonym |
| Tylosurus schismatorhynchus (Bleeker, 1850) (Bleeker, 1850) | synonym |
| Mastacembelus fasciatus Bleeker, 1872 Bleeker, 1872 | synonym |
| Ablenes hians (Valenciennes, 1846) (Valenciennes, 1846) | synonym |
| Ablennes pacificus Walford, 1936 Walford, 1936 | 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=159246 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:8L46. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.