was fishing at a dock on Long Island yesterday, caught 2 very unusual Needlefish. The first I'm 99.9% sure this is an Atlantic Needlefish, with no Needle. It must have gotten it's needle stuck in something and it broke off
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Later I was doing one of my futile attempts to micro hook a Northern Pipefish and I thought I did the impossible when one of them attacked the bait of nowhere. Unfortunately it was a micro needlefish. Before I could do the ID process I spotted a Banded Rudderfish which I've been trying to catch for 6 years and quickly dropped it in the bucket and went after the Rudder for like 20 minutes. When I came back to document it was dead/dying, which sucked. Not great documentation, the bars began to fade but one of the pics you can see all of the bars/bands.
I'm not ready to pronounce this just a regular juvenile Atlantic Needlefish just yet. This fish had vertical bars all over the body, and I cannot find anything on the internet showing or describing vertical bars on juvenile Atlantic Needles. Flat Needlefish do have 12-14 vertical bars, which is what this little guy has. What you guys think?
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