Marlin

Marlin Temporal range: Early Miocene to present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Atlantic blue marlin (Makaira nigricans)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Carangiformes
Suborder:	Menoidei
Family:	Istiophoridae Rafinesque, 1810
Type genus
Istiophorus Lacépède, 1801
Genera
Istiompax Istiophorus Kajikia Makaira Tetrapturus

Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes 11 species.

The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike.^[1]

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 ἱστίον istion meaning "sail" that describes the shape of the species's dorsal fins.^[2]: 6

Marlins have elongated bodies, a spear-like snout or bill, 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 However, greatly exaggerated speeds are often claimed in popular literature, based on unreliable or outdated reports.^[3]

The larger species include the Atlantic blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, which can reach 5 m (16 ft) in length and 820 kg (1,810 lb) in weight^[4] and the black marlin, Istiompax indica, which can reach in excess of 5 m (16 ft) in length and 670 kg (1,480 lb) in weight. They are popular sporting fish in tropical areas. The Atlantic blue marlin and the white marlin are endangered due to overfishing.^[5]

Marlins can change colour, lighting up their stripes just before attacking prey.^[6]

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.

Istiophoriform genera and species

Image	Genus	Living species	Common name
black marlin	Istiompax (Whitley, 1931)	Istiompax indica	black marlin
Atlantic sailfish	Istiophorus (Lacépède, 1801)	I. albicans	Atlantic sailfish
		I. platypterus	Indo-Pacific sailfish
Atlantic blue	Makaira (Lacépède, 1802)	Makaira nigricans (Lacepède, 1802)	Atlantic blue marlin
		Makaira mazara (Jordan & Snyder, 1901)	Indo-Pacific blue marlin
white marlin	Kajikia (Hirasaka & H. Nakamura, 1947)	Kajikia albida (Poey, 1860)	white marlin
		Kajikia audax (Philippi (Krumweide), 1887)	striped marlin
longbill	Tetrapturus (Rafinesque, 1810)	Tetrapturus angustirostris (S. Tanaka (I), 1915)	shortbill spearfish
		Tetrapturus belone (Rafinesque, 1810)	Mediterranean spearfish
		Tetrapturus georgii (R.T. Lowe, 1841)	roundscale spearfish
		Tetrapturus pfluegeri (C. R. Robins & de Sylva, 1963)	longbill spearfish

Marlins have a continuous fossil record from the Miocene onwards, with the oldest uncontroversial fossil dated to 22 million years ago.^[7] It is thought that they probably evolved in the Paratethys Sea.^[8]

The following fossil genera are known:^[9][10]

• †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

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.

There is a character in the film, Finding Nemo, called Marlin.

• Marlin fishing
• Sailfish

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Istiophoridae.

• "Marlin fishing". FishingBooker (blog). 3 December 2015.
• Melissa Block & John Nielson (radio hosts), Jason Schratwieser (marlin sport fishing expert), Mahmoud Sivji (fish research biologist involved in discovery) (2 March 2007). 'Ghost fish' revelation may alter marlin's status. NPR.org (radio news recording & transcript). All Things Considered. National Public Radio. Retrieved 2023-10-29. — news clip discussing discovery that a look-alike fish has been widely mis-identified as white marlin