Synopsis of the Biology of the White Marlin, 

 Tetrapturus albidus Poey (1861) 1 



F. J. MATHER 01, H. L. CLARK, and J. M. MASON, JR. 2 



1 IDENTITY 



1.1 Nomenclature 



1.11 Valid name 

 Tetrapturus albidus Poey, 1861 (Fig. 1). 



Poey, Felipe. July 1861 Memorias sobre la historia 

 natural de la Isla de Cuba. Habana, vol. 2, 442 p. 

 (ref. p. 237-243, 258-260; pi. 15, fig. 1, 3; pi. 16, figs. 

 2-13; pi. 17, figs. 1-11, 21, 26). 



Class Osteichthyes 



Subclass Actinopterygii 

 Order Perciformes 

 Suborder Xiphioidei 

 Family Istiophoridae 



Generic 

 Genus Tetrapturus Rafinesque 1810. 

 Rafinesque, C. S. 1810, "Caratteri di alcuni nuovi 



Figure 1. — White marlin, Tetrapturus albidus Poey, 1860. (From Nakamura et al., 1968, 



Fig. 19.) 



1.12 Objective synonymy 



No type specimen exists, therefore there are no 

 objective synonyms. 



1.2 Taxonomy 



1.21 Affinities 



Suprageneric 



Phylum Chordata 



Subphylum Vertebrata 

 Superclass Gnathostomata 



1 Contribution No. 3110 from the Woods Hole Oceanographic 

 Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543. 



2 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543. 



generi e nuove specie de animale e piante della 

 Sicilia." Palermo, 105 p., 20 pis. (ref. p. 54-55, pi. 1, 

 Fig. 1). Type species; Tetrapurus belone Rafi- 

 nesque, 1810. 



We follow the generic concept of C. R. Robins and 

 D. P. de Sylva, 1960, "Description and relationships 

 of the longbill spearfish, Tetrapturus belone, based on 

 western North Atlantic specimens," Bulletin of 

 Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean, 10:383- 

 413, 5 figs. (ref. mat. p. 383, 404-406, Fig. 5), and 1963, 

 "A new western Atlantic spearfish, Tetrapturus 

 pfluegeri, with a redescription of the Mediterranean 

 spearfish Tetrapturus belone, " Bulletin of Marine 

 Science of the Gulf and Caribbean, 13:84-122, 5 figs, 

 (ref. mat. p. 101-102). 



The following are transcribed from Robins and de 

 Sylva (1960), page 385: 



55 



