Browse: Home / Products / Fish We Offer / Exotic Fish / Marlin

Marlin

Large predator fish whose Stock levels are too inconsistent or low to be classified as sustainable.

For your convenience, we have included the following information from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

For other uses, see Marlin (disambiguation).

Marlin, family Istiophoridae, are fish with an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long rigid dorsal fin, which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to derive from its resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike.[1] Even more so than their close relatives the scombrids, marlin are incredibly fast swimmers, reaching speeds of about 110 kilometres per hour (68 mph).[2][3]

The larger species include the Atlantic blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, which can reach 6 metres (19.7 ft) in length and 818 kilograms (1,800 lb) in weight, and the Black marlin, Makaira indica, which can reach in excess of 5 metres (16.4 ft) in length and 670 kilograms (1,500 lb) in weight. They are popular sporting fish in tropical areas. Many sporting fishers like to try their luck at catching a massive marlin.

Marlin are rarely table fare, appearing mostly in fine restaurants. Most modern sport fishermen release marlin after unhooking.

Very large marlin, which may set a record, are taken and weighed on shore. Records are most often recorded in the IGFA World Record Game Fish books. The current record has stood for some 20 years.

Classification

The marlins are perciform fish, most closely related to the swordfish and Scombridae.

Family Istiophoridae

Timeline of genera

In literature

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 in order 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.

References

Notes

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (November 2001). "marlin". Online Etymological Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=marlin. 
  2. ^ Johnson, G.D. & Gill, A.C. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 190–191. ISBN 0-12-547665-5. 
  3. ^ thetravelalmanac.com/lists/fish-speed.htm

Sources

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlin