Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species.
Name
The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike.
Family description
Marlins have elongated bodies, a spear-like snouts or bills, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest.
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 However, greatly exaggerated speeds are often claimed in popular literature, based on unreliable or outdated reports.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.
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.
{ | class="wikitable" |+ |- ! Image !! Genus !! Living species !! Common name |- | || Istiompax || Istiompax indica || black marlin |- |rowspan=2| ||rowspan=2| Istiophorus || I. albicans || Atlantic sailfish |- | I. platypterus || Indo-Pacific sailfish |- |rowspan=2| ||rowspan=2| Makaira || Makaira nigricans || Atlantic blue marlin |- | Makaira mazara || Indo-Pacific blue marlin |- |rowspan=2| ||rowspan=2| Kajikia || Kajikia albida || white marlin |- | Kajikia audax || striped marlin |- |rowspan=4| ||rowspan=4| Tetrapturus || Tetrapturus angustirostris || shortbill spearfish |- | Tetrapturus belone || Mediterranean spearfish |- | Tetrapturus georgii || roundscale spearfish |- | Tetrapturus pfluegeri || longbill spearfish |}
Timeline of genera
Popular culture
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.
See also
Marlin fishing
Sailfish
References
Further reading
External links
— news clip discussing discovery that a look-alike fish has been widely mis-identified as white marlin