Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a
spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
-like
snout
A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, rostrum, or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the nose of many mammals is c ...
or bill, and a long, rigid
dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...
which extends forward to form a
crest
Crest or CREST may refer to:
Buildings
*The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York
*"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York
*Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...
. Its
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
is thought to derive from its resemblance to a sailor's
marlinspike. Marlins are among the fastest marine swimmers.
However, greatly exaggerated speeds are often claimed in popular literature, based on unreliable or outdated reports.
The larger species include the
Atlantic blue marlin, ''Makaira nigricans'', which can reach in length and in weight and the
black marlin, ''Istiompax indica'', which can reach in excess of in length and in weight. They are popular
sporting fish in tropical areas. The Atlantic blue marlin and the
white marlin are endangered owing to
overfishing
Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing fish stock), resulting in th ...
.
Classification
The marlins are
Istiophoriform fish, most closely related to the
swordfish
Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfis ...
, which is the sole member of
Xiphiidae. The
carangiformes
Carangiformes is an order of the ray-finned fishes. The order is part of a clade which is a sister clade to the Ovalentaria, the other orders in the clade being Synbranchiformes, Anabantiformes, Istiophoriformes and Pleuronectiformes. The Carang ...
is believed to be the second-closest clade to the Marlins. Although previously thought to be closely related to
Scombridae
The mackerel, tuna, and bonito family, Scombridae, includes many of the most important and familiar food fishes. The family consists of 51 species in 15 genera and two subfamilies. All species are in the subfamily Scombrinae, except the butterfly ...
, genetic analysis only shows a slight relationship.
Genera
Timeline of genera
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The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...
from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...
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from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:Miocene
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from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio.
from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:Pleist.
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
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from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:Paleogene
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from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:Neogene
The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...
from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q.
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color:miocene bar:NAM2 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Tetrapterus
''Tetrapterus'' (from el, τετρα , 'four' and el, πτερόν 'wing') is an extinct genus of prehistoric perciform fish.
See also
* Prehistoric fish
The evolution of fish began about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian expl ...
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from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:Eocene
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from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:Oligocene
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from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio.
from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:Pleist.
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
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from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:Neogene
The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...
from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q.
In literature
![Welcome to Dare County marlin - Stierch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Welcome_to_Dare_County_marlin_-_Stierch.jpg)
In the
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
-winning author
Ernest Hemingway's 1952 novel ''
The Old Man and the Sea'', the central character of the work is an aged Cuban fisherman who, after 84 days without success on the water, heads out to sea to break his run of bad luck. On the 85th day, Santiago, the old fisherman, hooks a resolute marlin; what follows is a great struggle between man, sea creature, and the elements.
Frederick Forsyth's story "The Emperor", in the collection ''
No Comebacks
''No Comebacks'' is a 1982 collection of ten short stories by English writer Frederick Forsyth. Each story takes place in a different setting and ends with a plot twist. Several of them involve a central male character without any apparent stre ...
'', tells of a bank manager named Murgatroyd, who catches a marlin and is acknowledged by the islanders of
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
as a master fisherman..
See also
*
Marlin fishing
Marlin fishing (also called billfishing) is considered by some game fishermen to be a pinnacle of offshore game fishing, due to the size and power of the four marlin species and their relative rareness. Fishing for marlin captured the imagination ...
*
Sailfish
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
"'Ghost Fish' Revelation May Alter Marlin's Status"from
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
Marlin Fishingfrom
FishingBooker
FishingBooker is an online marketplace specializing in booking charter boats for recreational fishing. The company was founded in Belgrade, Serbia, by CEO Vukan Simic, and is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.
The company has been described as ...
{{Taxonbar, from=Q30961
Hawaiian cuisine
Sport fish
Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque