'Aha---Needlefish

These cutes little fishes are very curious. They swim up near the surface of the water and will follow you and you snorkel along.

Needlefish are piscivorous fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea.

Needlefish are slender fish, ranging from 3 centimetres (1.2 in) to 95 centimetres (37 in) in length. Their most distinctive feature is their long narrow beak, which bears multiple sharp teeth. In most species, the upper jaw only reaches its full length in adulthood, so that the juveniles have a half-beak appearance, with an elongate lower jaw, but a much smaller upper one. During this stage of their life cycle, they eat plankton, switching to fish once the beak fully develops.

Here a needlefish is being cleaned by a Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse.

Needlefish are capable of making short jumps out of the water at up to 38 miles per hour. Since needlefish swim near the surface, they often leap over the decks of shallow boats rather than going around. This jumping activity is greatly excited by artificial light at night; night fisherman and divers in areas across the Pacific Ocean have been "attacked" by schools of suddenly excited needlefish diving across the water towards the light source at high speed. Their sharp beak is capable of inflicting deep puncture wounds, often breaking off inside the victim in the process. For many traditional Pacific Islander communities, who primarily fish on reefs from low boats, needlefish represent an even greater risk of injury than sharks.