358 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



in fact, is given as the chief distinction between 

 it and the marlins by Goode 87 by Jordan and 

 Evermann, 88 and by Boulenger. 89 But there is 

 actually a considerable gap between the two 

 fins in large specimens as Bean 90 remarks and as 

 appears on Goode's own illustrations of a sailfish 

 taken at Newport, and of a skeleton. 



Two species of marlins, the blue and the white 

 are known off the middle and north Atlantic 

 Coasts of the United States. But it is not yet 

 clear whether the enormous marlins, with violet 

 cross-stripes on the sides, that are caught off the 

 North Coast of Cuba 91 are simply very large 

 blue marlin, a separate subspecies, or even a 

 species. And the marlins of more southern 

 waters still await critical study. 



KEY TO SPEARFISHES OR MARLINS, 

 AND SAILFISHES 



Middle Atlantic and North Atlantic Coast of 

 United States 



1. First dorsal fin much higher than the body is deep 



and sail-like; ventrals of 3 rays each.. Sailfish, p. 357 



The first dorsal fin is not higher than the body is 



deep; ventrals reduced to one spine each 2 



2. Apex of first dorsal fin and tips of pectorals pointed- 



Blue marlin, p. 358 



Apex of first dorsal and tips of pectorals rounded 



White marlin, p. 360 



Blue marlin Makaira ampla (Poey) 1860. 



Skilligalee 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 892, Telrapterus 

 amplus.' 2 



Description. — The marlin parallels the swordfish 

 in the prolongation of the bones of the upper jaw 

 to form a sword. But that of the marlin is 

 slender and rounded above, not broad and flattened 

 as in the swordfish, also only about half as long 

 relatively. The two fish differ widely, too, in the 



" Rept. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1880, p. 296. 



»« Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., Pt. 1, 1896, p. 890. 



» Cambridge Natural History, vol. 7, 1904, p. 680. 



» Bull. New York State Mus., 60, Zool. 9, 1903, p. 404. 



•' Hemmlngway (in Vesey-Fltzgerald and Lamonte, Game Fishes of the 

 World, 1949, p. 158) reports theso striped marlins weighing up to 1,260 pounds 

 off northern Cuba. 



M Jordan and Evermann In their general review of the giant mackerel-like 

 fishes, tunnies, spearfishes, and swordfishes (Occ. Papers, Calif. Acad, of 

 Scl., XII, p. 28, 1926) separate the spearfishes into two genera Telrapterus 

 with the front of the first dorsal fin little if any higher than the median part 

 of the fin and Makaira, with the front part of the first dorsal higher than the 

 median part of the dorsal. 



relative sizes of the first dorsal fin, 93 which extends 

 along fully two-thirds of the length of the trunk 

 from the nape backward in the marlin and is, 

 futhermore, of characteristic falcate outline. 

 But more important systematically, if less ap- 

 parent, is the fact that the adult marlin has 

 ventral fins which the swordfish lacks, though 

 they are reduced, it is true, to one long spine 

 each (actually 5 spines fused together). 



Futhermore, the second dorsal fin and the 

 second anal fin of the marlin are relatively larger, 

 and the pectorals smaller than those of the sword- 

 fish, while there are two small longitudinal keels 

 on either side of its caudal peduncle instead of 

 one broad one; its body is more slender; and its 

 head is relatively shorter. Careful examination 

 would show that the spearfish is not naked but 

 has small scales imbedded in the skin and that 

 there are small teeth in its jaws and on the roof 

 of its mouth. 



The blue marlin differs from its close relative 

 the white marlin in the shape of the apex of its 

 first dorsal fin and of the tips of its pectorals, 

 both of which are pointed; also in the much 

 darker color of its sides and belly; and in the fact 

 that it grows much larger. 



The blue marlin is deepest abreast the pectorals, 

 (about 6% times as long, not counting the caudal 

 fin, as it is deep), tapering evenly to the caudal 

 peduncle, and its upper jaw in front of the eye 

 (including the sword) is about twice as long as 

 the length of its head behind the eye. 94 



The first dorsal fin, with 47 to 48 stiff rays is 

 separated from the second dorsal by a space about 

 as long as the latter in one fish seen by us; by a 

 shorter space in another. The first anal fin (2 

 spines and about 12 or 13 rays), situated below 

 the rear part of the first dorsal, is triangular, its 

 long first rays forming a sharp angle. The short 

 second anal is similar to the second dorsal fin 

 and originates a little in front of the latter. The 

 ventrals stand below the pectorals; the caudal 

 resembles that of the swordfish in its lunate 

 outline. 



Color. — Dark dull blue on the back and on the 

 sides down about to the level of the eyes, washed 

 with coppery reflections, also on the bill, with 



M Very young marlins have only one continuous dorsal fin, but this separates 

 later into two. 



« See Shapiro (Amer. Mus. Novitat., No. 995, 1938) for a study of the 

 changes in proportional dimensions that take place with growth, in the blue 

 marlin. 



