Dusky Garfish
Hyporhamphus melanochir
- Usual depth0–7 m
- Water temperature14–22 °C
- Best monthsAugust
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
About this species
Hyporhamphus melanochir, or Southern garfish or garfish, is a halfbeak garfish from the family Hemiramphidae. It is found in southern Australian and New Zealand waters. It is a very popular fish for recreational fishing and eating in Australia, where it is referred to simply as 'garfish' or 'gar'.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Hyporhamphus melanochir”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 44 records
- February: 90 records
- March: 64 records
- April: 49 records
- May: 17 records
- June: 51 records
- July: 101 records
- August: 214 records
- September: 38 records
- October: 66 records
- November: 20 records
- December: 91 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–7 m · Deepest record: 31 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 14–22 °C
Photos
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) David Gobbett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Zara, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Dusky Garfish, dusky sea garfish, Gardie, Garfish, Pencils, Sea Garfish, South Australian Garfish, Southern Garfish, Southern Sea Garfish, Western Sea Garfish
Names in 1 more languages
- Japanese
- ミナミオーストラリアサヨリ
Other scientific names: Hemiramphus melanochir, Reporhamphus melanochir
Similar species
Dussumier's halfbeakHyporhamphus dussumieri
Half-beakHyporhamphus quoyi
Atlantic silverstripe halfbeakHyporhamphus unifasciatus
Acute HalfbeakHyporhamphus acutus
Tropical halfbeakHyporhamphus affinis
BallyhooHyporhamphus australis
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 671 open-data records from 1910 to 2023.
- Species data updated November 3, 2026.
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