Abstract
There are four species of marlin (Istiophoridae): blue (Makaira nigricans), black (M. indica), striped (Tetrapterus audux) and white (T. albidus). All are large, pelagic, predatory teleosts that range the warm temperate and tropical oceans. Indeed it is presently thought that the Pacific blue and black marlins are the largest extant teleosts, reportedly exceeding 1200 kg based on unconfirmed Japanese commercial longline data. A single specimen of a blue marlin weighing 820.5 kg (1805lb) is the largest confirmed capture on rod and reel (Mather 1976). The ability of marlin to perform short-term explosive burst swimming is legendary, and they can attain estimated maximum speeds of 40 to 60kmh−1 (see Magnuson 1978 for data on other scombrids). They also have rather prodigious capacities for steady-state swimming and are obligate ram ventilators. Based on recent tag recoveries (NMFS News Release, 11 January 1985) a single black marlin travelled a record 10618 km, from Baja California to Norfolk Island in the south-west Pacific off New Zealand, at an average straightline speed of 17.3 km day−1.
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