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Belone is distinguished from other genera of Belonidae mostly because of its complete cephalic sensory system, presence of gill rakers, vomerine teeth, and the pattern of its dentition. This eastern North Atlantic genus contains two extant species and at least three described fossil species from Lower Oligocene and Upper Miocene formations in Europe. †Belone countermani, sp. nov., a new species of needlefish from the Tortonian Upper Miocene St. Marys Formation of Calvert Cliffs (Maryland, U.S.A.), is described herein based on a well-preserved three-dimensional associated pair of upper and lower jaws. This rostrum represents the only record of this genus in the western North Atlantic Ocean. †Belone countermani is characterized by a unique dental pattern on the dentary. The dentary commissural region is filled with several rows of small accessory teeth (five to seven) that gradually decrease in number of rows; along the symphysial region there is one inner row of conical teeth and one external row ...

The 40 life history, myological, and osteological characters that Tibbetts (1992) used in his study of the hemiramphids are evaluated for both saury genera (Cololabis and Scomberesox) to determine if the Scomberesocidae are more closely related to the Zenarchopteridae, to the needlefishes (Belonidae), or to the halfbeaks (Hemiramphidae) and flyingfishes (Exocoetidae). Data were analyzed using PAUP*, and eight equally parsimonious trees were found (70 steps, CI 0.814, RI 0.938). This analysis indicates that sauries are most closely related to needlefishes, supporting the historical concept of the superfamily Scomberesocoidea as a monophyletic assemblage. A caudal displacement of the origin of the retractor dorsalis muscle is a tentative additional synapomorphy for all four saury species. Zenarchopteridae is strongly supported as a valid family sister to the Scomberesocoidea (decay index = 19, bootstrap = 100). Resolution of the internal structure of the Belonidae and the Hemiramphidae requires the identification of additional characters and examination of a greater number of taxa.