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UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



Fig. 108. Atlantic sail fish. 



Spearfishes are solitary or may travel in pairs. The predominant color is a 

 beautiful silvery blue, frequently with vertical stripes. The colors become more 

 vivid when the fishes are fighting or dying. 



ATLANTIC SAILFISH: 



Istioph 



orus amencanus 



Size: Averages 6 feet. Up to 8 feet. 



Weight: Averages 30 to 50 pounds. Up to 123 pounds. 



Distribution: West Indies to Florida. Straggles to Cape Cod. 



Identification: The saillike fin makes this fish unmistakable. When traveling 

 speedily through the water this fin is folded back in a slot on the back. The 

 slim body and small size (for spearfishes) then becomes the best means of 

 identification. The ventral fins are long. 



Habits: Sailfishes are the most common, the smallest, and the most spectacular 

 and beautiful of the spearfishes. There is a good chance of seeing them under 

 water for they come quite close to shore. Often, they travel in pairs. The sail 

 is always raised when they fight on the line and presumably also when they 

 are otherwise annoyed or excited. The purpose of such a large fin is not known. 

 Sailfishes and other spearfishes like to bask at the surface. 



Similar Species: The Pacific sailfish, Istiophorus greyi, grows to a larger size 

 than the Atlantic sailfish, averaging 100 pounds and reaching 275 pounds. It is 

 found north to southern California. 



There are several marlins which look like sailfishes, but none of them has the 

 very high saillike dorsal fin. The blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, is a bulky fish 

 with no visible lateral line. It reaches 750 pounds but averages 300 to 400 pounds 

 and is found in the warm Atlantic. It is not very common. The white marlin, 

 Makaira albida, is another warm Atlantic species of rather small size (up to 1 50 

 pounds) and comparatively light coloration. It has a conspicuous lateral line. 

 The striped marlin, Makaira mitsiikurii, is the only striped Pacific species and 

 is the most vividly striped of all spearfishes. It is of the warm Pacific and reaches 

 huge size, weighing up to over 1,000 pounds, and reaching a length of 14 feet. 



The swordfish, Xiphias gladius, is of the family Xiphiidae, and its distribution 

 is world-wide in all warm seas. It reaches 600 pounds (Norman and Eraser, 1938, 

 list it as the largest marine fish— up to 20 feet long and 1,000 pounds) and is 



