View source for Marlin

{{short description|Family of fish}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Marlin
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|22.4|0|[[Early Miocene]] to present}}
| image = Atlantic blue marlin.jpg
| image_caption = [[Atlantic blue marlin]] ''(Makaira nigricans)''
| taxon = Istiophoridae
| authority = [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1810
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = * ''[[Black marlin|Istiompax]]''
* ''[[Sailfish|Istiophorus]]''
* ''[[Kajikia]]''
* ''[[Makaira]]''
* ''[[Tetrapturus]]''
| type_genus = [[Istiophorus]]
| type_genus_authority = [[Bernard Germain Étienne comte de La Ville-sur-Illon La Cépède|Lacépède]], 1801
}}

'''Marlins''' are fish from the [[Family (biology)|family]] '''Istiophoridae''', which includes between 9 and 11 [[species]], depending on the taxonomic authority.

== Name ==
The family's [[common name]] is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's [[marlinspike]].<ref>{{cite dictionary | first = Douglas | last = Harper
 |date = November 2001 |title = marlin |url = http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=marlin |dictionary= Online Etymological Dictionary }}</ref>

== Taxonomy ==
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 {{lang|el|ἱστίον}} ''istion'' meaning "[[sail]]" that describes the shape of the species's dorsal fins.<ref name="EtyFish">{{cite web |last=Scharpf  |first= Christopher |date=13 September 2023 |url= http://www.etyfish.org/carangiformes1/ | title= Order CARANGIFORMES |work=The ETYFish Project |pages=1–19 |access-date=18 December 2023}}</ref>{{rp|6}}

== Family description ==
Marlins have elongated bodies, a [[spear]]-like [[snout]] or bill, and a long, rigid [[dorsal fin]] which extends forward to form a [[Crest (feathers)|crest]].

Marlins, an apex predator, are among the fastest marine swimmers. However, greatly exaggerated speeds are often claimed in popular literature, based on unreliable or outdated reports.<ref name=Svends-Domen-etal-2016>{{Cite journal |last1=Svendsen |first1=Morten B.S. |last2=Domenici |first2=Paolo |last3=Marras |first3=Stefano |last4=Krause |first4=Jens |last5=Boswell |first5=Kevin M. |last6=Rodriguez-Pinto |first6=Ivan |last7=Wilson |first7=Alexander D.M. |last8=Kurvers|first8=Ralf H.J.M. |last9=Viblanc |first9=Paul E. |last10=Finger |first10=Jean S. |last11=Steffensen |first11=John F. |display-authors=6 |date=2016-10-15 |title=Maximum swimming speeds of sailfish and three other large marine predatory fish species based on muscle contraction time and stride length: a myth revisited |journal=Biology Open |volume=5 |issue=10 |pages=1415–1419 |doi=10.1242/bio.019919 |issn=2046-6390 |pmc=5087677 |pmid=27543056 |language=en}}</ref>

The larger species include the [[Atlantic blue marlin]], ''Makaira nigricans'', which can reach {{convert|5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|820|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in weight<ref>{{cite web |title=''Makaira nigricans'', blue marlin |department=fisheries, gamefish |website=FishBase |url=http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Makaira-nigricans.html}}</ref> and the [[black marlin]], ''Istiompax indica'', which can reach in excess of {{convert|5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|670|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in weight. They are popular [[sport fishing|sporting fish]] in tropical areas.<!-- encyclopedic? Many sporting fishers like to try their luck at catching a massive marlin. --> The Atlantic blue marlin and the [[white marlin]] are endangered due to [[overfishing]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Tunas and marlins officially classified as threatened |website=Smithsonian Ocean |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |url=https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/fish/tunas-and-marlins-officially-classified-threatened |via=ocean.si.edu }}</ref>

Marlins can change colour, lighting up their stripes just before attacking prey.<ref>{{cite news |title=Marlin use their surprising superpower to attack other fish |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/26/marlin-light-up-stripes-coordinate-attacks-fish-prey/ |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=26 February 2024 |access-date=9 March 2024 |last1=Pinkstone |first1=Joe }}</ref>

==Classification==
The marlins are [[istiophoriformes|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.

{{clear}}

=== Extant genera ===
:{| class="wikitable"
|+ '''{{big| Istiophoriform genera and species }}'''
|-
! Image !! Genus !! Living species  !! Common name
|-
| [[File:Maind u0 cropped.png|175px]]<br/>{{center|black marlin}} || ''[[Istiompax]]''<br/>{{small|(Whitley, 1931)}} || ''[[Istiompax indica]]'' || black marlin 
|-
|rowspan=2| [[File:Sailfish (Duane Raver).png|175px]]<br/>{{center|Atlantic sailfish}} ||rowspan=2| ''[[Istiophorus]]''<br/>{{small|(Lacépède, 1801)}} || ''I. albicans'' || [[Atlantic sailfish]]
|-
| ''I. platypterus'' || [[Indo-Pacific sailfish]]
|-
|rowspan=2| [[File:Blue marlin (Duane Raver).png|175px]]<br/>{{center|Atlantic blue}} ||rowspan=2| ''[[Makaira]]''<br/>{{small|(Lacépède, 1802)}} || ''Makaira nigricans''<br/>{{small|(Lacepède, 1802)}} || [[Atlantic blue marlin]] 
|-
| ''Makaira mazara''<br/>{{small|([[David Starr Jordan|Jordan]] & [[John Otterbein Snyder|Snyder]], 1901)}} || [[Indo-Pacific blue marlin]] 
|-
|rowspan=2| [[File:White marlin (Duane Raver).png|175px]]<br/>{{center|white marlin}} ||rowspan=2| ''[[Kajikia]]''<br/>{{small|(Hirasaka & H. Nakamura, 1947)}} || ''[[White Marlin|Kajikia albida]]''<br/>{{small|([[Felipe Poey y Aloy|Poey]], 1860)}}  || white marlin
|-
| ''[[Kajikia audax]]''<br/>{{nobr|{{small|([[Rodolfo Amando Philippi|Philippi (Krumweide)<nowiki/>]], 1887)}} }} || striped marlin 
|-
|rowspan=4| [[File:Longbill spearfish (Duane Raver).png|175px]]<br/>{{center|longbill}} ||rowspan=4| ''[[Tetrapturus]]''<br/>{{small|(Rafinesque, 1810)}} || ''[[Tetrapturus angustirostris]]''<br/>{{small|([[Shigeho Tanaka|S. Tanaka (I)]], 1915)}} || shortbill spearfish 
|-
| ''[[Tetrapturus belone]]''<br/>{{small|([[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1810)}} || Mediterranean spearfish 
|-
| ''[[Tetrapturus georgii]]''<br/>{{small|([[Richard Thomas Lowe|R.T. Lowe]], 1841)}} || roundscale spearfish 
|-
| ''[[Tetrapturus pfluegeri]]''<br/>{{small|([[Charles Richard Robins|C. R. Robins]] & [[Donald Perrin de Sylva|de Sylva]], 1963)}} || longbill spearfish 
|}

===Fossil genera===
Marlins have a continuous fossil record from the Miocene onwards, with the oldest uncontroversial fossil dated to 22 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= De Gracia |first1= C. |last2= Berning |first2= B. |last3 = Kriwet |first3= J. |date= March 2023 |title= The origin of modern marlins (Teleostei: Istiophoridae): new fossil evidence from the Lower Miocene of Austria |journal= Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume= 43 |issue= 2 |article-number= e2281490|doi= 10.1080/02724634.2023.2281490|doi-access= free }}</ref> It is thought that they probably evolved in the [[Paratethys]] Sea.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Fierstine |first1= H.L. |date= 2006 |title= Fossil history of billfishes (Xiphioidei) |journal= Bulletin of Marine Science |volume= 79 |issue= 3 |pages= 433–453 |url= https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/umrsmas/bullmar/2006/00000079/00000003/art00002 |access-date= 30 April 2024}}</ref>

The following fossil genera are known:<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=De Gracia |first1=Carlos |last2=Correa-Metrio |first2=Alex |last3=Carvalho |first3=Mónica |last4=Velez-Juarbe |first4=Jorge |last5=Přikryl |first5=Tomáš |last6=Jaramillo |first6=Carlos |last7=Kriwet |first7=Jürgen |date=2022-12-31 |title=Towards a unifying systematic scheme of fossil and living billfishes (Teleostei, Istiophoridae) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2022.2091959 |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |language=en |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=1–36 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2022.2091959 |bibcode=2022JSPal..20....1D |issn=1477-2019|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=De Gracia |first1=Carlos |last2=Villalobos-Segura |first2=Eduardo |last3=Ballen |first3=Gustavo A. |last4=Carnevale |first4=Giorgio |last5=Kriwet |first5=Jürgen |date=2024 |title=Phylogenetic patterns in fossil and living billfishes (Istiophoriformes, Istiophoridae): evidence from the Central Mediterranean |journal=Papers in Palaeontology |language=en |volume=10 |issue=4 |doi=10.1002/spp2.1559 |issn=2056-2799|doi-access=free |bibcode=2024PPal...10E1559D }}</ref>

* †''[[Morgula]]'' <small>Gracia ''et al''., 2022</small>
* †''[[Pizzikoskerma]]'' <small>Gracia, Villalobos-Segura, Ballen, Carnevale & Kriwet, 2024</small>
* †''[[Prototetrapturus]]'' <small>Gracia ''et al''., 2022</small>
* †''[[Sicophasma]]'' <small>Gracia, Villalobos-Segura, Ballen, Carnevale & Kriwet, 2024</small>
* †''[[Spathochoira]]'' <small>Gracia ''et al''., 2022</small>

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==Popular culture==
[[File:Welcome to Dare County marlin - Stierch.jpg|thumbnail|A [[taxidermy|taxidermied]] marlin greets visitors to [[Dare County, North Carolina]].]]
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.

In  ''[[Finding Nemo]]'', Nemo's father's name is Marlin.

==See also==
{{Portal|Fish}}
* [[Marlin fishing]]
* [[Sailfish]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sepkoski |first=Jack |year=2002 |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera |journal=[[Bulletins of American Paleontology]] |volume=364 |page=560 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |access-date=2011-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131237/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |archive-date=2011-07-23 }}
* {{FishBase family|family=Istiophoridae|year=2005|month=November}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Istiophoridae}}
* {{cite web |title=Marlin fishing |type=blog |website=[[FishingBooker]]  |date=3 December 2015 |url=https://fishingbooker.com/blog/marlin-fishing/}}
* {{cite AV media |title='Ghost fish' revelation may alter marlin's status |date=2 March 2007 |people=Melissa Block & John Nielson (radio hosts), Jason Schratwieser (marlin sport fishing expert), Mahmoud Sivji (fish research biologist involved in discovery) |medium=radio news recording & transcript |series=[[All Things Considered]] |publisher=[[National Public Radio]] |website=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7692201 |access-date=2023-10-29}} — news clip discussing discovery that a look-alike fish has been widely mis-identified as white marlin
{{billfish}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q30961}}

[[Category:Native Hawaiian cuisine]]
[[Category:Istiophoridae| ]]
[[Category:Game fish]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]]
[[Category:Aquitanian first appearances]]