Makaira ampla tahitiensis Nichols and LaMonte 



1941. Ichthyol. Contrib. Int. Game Fish Assoc. 



1(1):8, fig. 3. 

 Tetrapturus breuirostris Smith 1946. Ann. Mag. 



Nat. Hist. 11:793-807. 

 Martina marlina Hirasaka and Nakamura 1947. 



Bull. Oceanogr. Inst. Taiwan 3:15, pi. 3, fig. 1. 

 Istiompax dombraini Whitley 1954. Aust. Zool. 12 



(1):60. 

 Makaira mazara (partim) LaMonte 1955 (non Jordan 



and Snyder 1901). Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 107: 



336. 

 Makaira mazara tahitiensis LaMonte 1955. Bull. 



Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 107:342. 

 Makaira xantholineata Deraniyagala 1956. Spolia 



Zeylan. 28(l):23-24. 

 Istiompax marlina Royce 1957. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., 



Fish. Bull. 57:524-528, fig. 2d, 3a. 

 Istiompax breuirostris Morrow 1958. Bull. Mar. Sci. 



Gulf Caribb. 8:358. 

 Makaira australis Marshall 1964. Fishes of the Great 



Barrier Reef and coastal waters of Queensland, p. 



349-350, pi. 47, Narberth. 



The following key to the species of Makaira is based 

 on Nakamura et al. (1968): 



a. Pectoral fin folds back against the side of the 



body. Lateral line not single line. 



b. Lateral line system simple loops in shape 



Makaira mazara Jordan and Snyder, Indo- 



Pacific blue marlin. 

 bb. Lateral line system reticulate Makaira 



nigricans Lacepede, Atlantic blue marlin. 

 aa. Pectoral fin extends stiffly away from the body, 



cannot be folded back against the side of the 



body. Lateral line obscure but single line - - 



- - Makaira indica (Cuvier), black marlin, 



(Fig. 1). 



1.22 Taxonomic status 



This species was placed in genus Istiompax by 

 several authors, e.g., Whitley, 1931a, 1931b, 1948, 

 1955; Royce, 1957; Morrow, 1959a, 1959b, 1959c, but 



many other authors have placed it in genus Makaira. 

 Species concept of M. indica is still one of a 

 morphospecies. 



1.23 Subspecies 



Some authors proposed a subspecies status for this 

 species, e.g., Nichols and LaMonte, 1935a, 1935b; 

 LaMonte and Marcy, 1941; Rosa, 1950; Morrow, 1954, 

 1957, but this has not been generally accepted due to 

 the lack of adequate evidence. Further studies on 

 geographical morphological forms or subspecies are 

 highly needed. 



1.24 Standard common names and ver- 

 nacular names 



In current scientific literature "black marlin" is in- 

 variably used as the common name for Makaira in- 

 dica. 2 The following vernacular names are used by 

 fishermen: 



Location 



Sri Lanka (general) 

 Sri Lanka (Tamil) 

 Sri Lanka (Sinhala) 

 Indonesia 

 U.S.A. 



New Zealand, Australia, 



New Guinea 

 Formosa 

 Tokyo, Japan 

 Kochi, Japan 

 Okinawa, Japan 

 Various parts of Japan 



Common name 



Marlin, Ahin Koppara 



Kopparan, Kopparaikulla 



Kapparava, Makara, Sapparava 



Joo Hoo 



Pacific black marlin, giant black marlin, 



silver marlin 

 Black marlin 



Kyau-shit-a 



Shirokawa 



Genba 



Shiruachi 



Shirokajiki, Shirokawakajiki 



2 "Black marlin" as the common name for Makaira indica was not 

 universally accepted until the mid-1960's. Prior to this agreement, 

 some authors, principally scientists from Japan, called this species 

 "white marlin" (see for example Ueyanagi, 1964). To add to this 

 confusion, much of the earlier Japanese literature used "black 

 marlin" to refer to the species currently known as "blue marlin," 

 Makaira nigricans. The fact that the scientific names have gone 

 through a similar period of changes has not helped the 

 nomenclature situation any. 



Figure 1.— Black marlin, Makaira indica (Cuvier). 



18 



