Marlin

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalae
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Istiophoridae
Genera: Tetrapturus, Makaira

Striped Marlin

Marlin, or spearfish, is a large game fish. It has an elongated body, up to 2.5 m long, a spearlike snout, and a long rigid dorsal fin, which extends forwards to form a crest. Marlins are fast swimmers, occurring in all seas and hunting small fish.

The larger species include the blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, which have been reliably recorded in excess of 5.0 m in length and 820 kg in weight, and black marlin, Makaira indicans, which have been reliably recorded in excess of 5.0 m in length and 760 kg in weight. They are popular sporting fishes in certain tropical areas and are also commercially important as a food fish.

A marlin is a primary character in Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.

See:
• Big Game Fishing
• Sport Fishing
• Tuna

• This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
• It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Marlin".