Marlin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Striped marlin, Tetrapturus audax
|
||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Istiophorus |
The marlin is a large game fish. It has an elongated body that in larger species can be in excess of 4 m long, a spearlike snout, and a long rigid dorsal fin which extends forwards to form a crest. Marlin are fast swimmers, occurring in all seas and hunting small and large fish.
The larger species include the Atlantic blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, which have been reliably recorded in excess of 5 m in length and 820 kg (1,800 lb) in weight, and black marlin, Makaira indica, which have been reliably recorded in excess of 5 m in length and 670 kg (1,470 lb) in weight. Marlins are very fast and can swim 100 m in about 4 seconds. They are popular sporting fishes in certain tropical areas and are also commercially important as a food fish.
Marlin are rarely table fare. Most modern sport fishermen release marlin after unhooking. Some marlin that are top record setting fish are taken and weighed on shore. Those records are most often recorded in the IGFA World Record Game Fishes books.
Contents |
[edit] Trivia
- The Miami Marlins were a minor league baseball team in the 1950s and 1960s, and were named after the fish.
- The name of the Florida Marlins major league baseball team was inspired by the predecessor minor league team. The Marlins' mascot is named Billy the Marlin, partly a reference to baseball player and manager Billy Martin.
- Marlin is the name of Nemo's father in the Pixar animated feature film Finding Nemo.
- A marlin is a primary character in Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.
- Marlin is known as the 'Halloween Fish'.
- The Blue Marlin is a fishing video game by Hot-B for the Nintendo Entertainment System that revolves around a marlin fishing tournament.
[edit] References
- "Istiophoridae". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. November 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
- Clover, Charles. 2004. The End of the Line: How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat. Ebury Press, London. ISBN 0-09-189780-7
[edit] Gallery
[edit] External links
- International Game Fish Association
- The Tuna Club - oldest sport fishing organization
- News article: Marlin spears fisherman as it leaps across boat
- 'Ghost Fish' Revelation May Alter Marlin's Status from National Public Radio
