Saltreed Needlefish

A white reed blinked. We'd blamed salt for the color. The Needlefish stood on its tail in knee-deep water with its jaw pointed upward and narrow fins spread like leaves. Fifty other white stalks stood around it.

Mora stepped between channels. The fish vanished downward and came out of the next pool as a silver line. It punched through her pack, buried itself in mud, and became a reed again. We stretched the net crosswise at waist height. On the next launch its stiff fins caught. It thrashed hard enough to ring the weights. Mora cut the jaw free and pushed it into the water. Its fleeing wake was knife-thin.

It waits upright for a crossing between connected pools. One straight launch passes through or pins the target, then it buries into the next bank. Reeds and roots frame its preferred lanes because it cannot turn sharply in air.

Several may flash their scales underwater to arrange sequential shots. Vibration through a taut transverse net can deter them. Splashing attracts them. A wounded fish stands still in the saltiest pocket until a mineral crust closes the wound.