Marlin

Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Automatic taxobox

Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes between 9 and 11 species, depending on the taxonomic authority.

Name

The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike.<ref>Template:Cite dictionary</ref>

Taxonomy

The family name Istiophoridae comes from the genus Istiophorus which first placed the species Istiophorus platypterus by George Kearsley Shaw in 1792 from the Greek word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} istion meaning "sail" that describes the shape of the species's dorsal fins.<ref name="EtyFish">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp

Family description

Marlins have elongated bodies, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest.

Marlins, an apex predator, are among the fastest marine swimmers. However, greatly exaggerated speeds are often claimed in popular literature, based on unreliable or outdated reports.<ref name=Svends-Domen-etal-2016>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The larger species include the Atlantic blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, which can reach Template:Convert in length and Template:Convert in weight<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the black marlin, Istiompax indica, which can reach in excess of Template:Convert in length and Template:Convert in weight. They are popular sporting fish in tropical areas. The Atlantic blue marlin and the white marlin are endangered due to overfishing.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Marlins can change colour, lighting up their stripes just before attacking prey.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Classification

The marlins are Istiophoriform fish, most closely related to the swordfish (which itself is the sole member of the family Xiphiidae). The carangiformes are believed to be the second-closest clade to marlins. Although previously thought to be closely related to Scombridae, genetic analysis only shows a slight relationship.

Extant genera

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Image	Genus	Living species	Common name
File:Maind u0 cropped.png black marlin {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}	Istiompax Template:Small	Istiompax indica	black marlin
File:Sailfish (Duane Raver).png Atlantic sailfish {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}	Istiophorus Template:Small	I. albicans	Atlantic sailfish
		I. platypterus	Indo-Pacific sailfish
File:Blue marlin (Duane Raver).png Atlantic blue {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}	Makaira Template:Small	Makaira nigricans Template:Small	Atlantic blue marlin
		Makaira mazara Template:Small	Indo-Pacific blue marlin
File:White marlin (Duane Raver).png white marlin {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}	Kajikia Template:Small	Kajikia albida Template:Small	white marlin
		Kajikia audax Template:Nobr	striped marlin
File:Longbill spearfish (Duane Raver).png longbill {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}	Tetrapturus Template:Small	Tetrapturus angustirostris Template:Small	shortbill spearfish
		Tetrapturus belone Template:Small	Mediterranean spearfish
		Tetrapturus georgii Template:Small	roundscale spearfish
		Tetrapturus pfluegeri Template:Small	longbill spearfish

Fossil genera

Marlins have a continuous fossil record from the Miocene onwards, with the oldest uncontroversial fossil dated to 22 million years ago.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It is thought that they probably evolved in the Paratethys Sea.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The following fossil genera are known:<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

• †Morgula Gracia et al., 2022
• †Pizzikoskerma Gracia, Villalobos-Segura, Ballen, Carnevale & Kriwet, 2024
• †Prototetrapturus Gracia et al., 2022
• †Sicophasma Gracia, Villalobos-Segura, Ballen, Carnevale & Kriwet, 2024
• †Spathochoira Gracia et al., 2022

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Popular culture

File:Welcome to Dare County marlin - Stierch.jpg

A taxidermied marlin greets visitors to Dare County, North Carolina.

In the Nobel Prize-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, tells of a bank manager named Murgatroyd, who catches a marlin and is acknowledged by the islanders of Mauritius as a master fisherman.

A marlin features prominently in the last chapter and climactic scenes of Christina Stead's The Man Who Loved Children. Sam's friend Saul gives Sam a marlin, and Sam makes his children help him render the fish's fat.

The Miami Marlins, a professional baseball team based in Miami, Florida, is named after the fish.

In Finding Nemo, Nemo’s father’s name is Marlin.

See also

• Marlin fishing
• Sailfish

Further reading

• Template:Cite journal
• {{#invoke:Cite taxon|main|fishbase|genus=|species=|subspecies=}}

External links

• {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}

• Template:Cite AV media — news clip discussing discovery that a look-alike fish has been widely mis-identified as white marlin