''Ctenolucius hujeta'', also known as silver gar, rocket gar, hujeta gar and freshwater barracuda, is a slender, medium-sized

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of s ...

found in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, where it is known as "''agujeta''"; Spanish for "shoelace". Large specimens can reach 30 cm (12 in) in length. This

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

predator, fast yet timid, feeds mainly on small fish. It spends most of its time in the upper layer of the water, very near the surface, in small schools that tend to become smaller as individuals grow and separate. Amerikanischer Hechtsalmler Ctenolucius hujeta Tierpark Hellabrunn-1.jpg, Ctenolucius hujeta 3.jpg,

References

Ctenoluciidae Freshwater fish of Colombia Fish of Venezuela Magdalena River Taxa named by Achille Valenciennes Fish described in 1850 {{Characiformes-stub