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Makaira mazara (Jordan and Snyder, 1901)
INDO-PACIFIC BLUE MARLIN
Life   Vertebrata   Fish   Istiophoridae   Makaira

Makaira mazara
© Copyright IATTC 1999, 2006 · -3
Makaira mazara

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Overview
Main identification features
  • 15 blue spotted bars
  • dorsal fin height less than body depth
  • pectoral: not rigid, can fold against side
Body only slightly compressed laterally; nape strongly elevated; anterior dorsal rays elevated into triangular peak, remainder of fin very low; height of anterior lobe of first dorsal fin less than greatest body depth; first dorsal fin rays 40-45; second dorsal fin rays 6-7; pectoral fin rays 20-23; pectoral rays not rigid and can be folded against side of body; pelvic fins filamentous, distinctly shorter than pectoral fins.

Blue black dorsally and silvery white ventrally with about 15 cobalt-colored vertical rows of round spots or narrow bars; first dorsal fin blackish or dark blue; other fins blackish brown, sometimes tinged with dark blue.

Size: attains 500 cm; all-tackle world record 498 Kg.

Habitat: pelagic, oceanic.

Depth: 0-200 m.

Indo-Pacific in tropical and temperate seas; California to the SW and central eastern Gulf of California to Peru and the oceanic islands.


Attributes

Abundance: Common.

Cites: Not listed.

Climate Zone: North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California); Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap); Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos); Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo); South Temperate (Peruvian Province ).

Depth Range Max: 200 m.

Depth Range Min: 0 m.

Diet: octopus/squid/cuttlefish; bony fishes.

Eastern Pacific Range: Northern limit=40; Southern limit=-28; Western limit=-124; Eastern limit=-71; Latitudinal range=68; Longitudinal range=53.

Egg Type: Pelagic; Pelagic larva.

Feeding Group: Carnivore.

FishBase Habitat: Pelagic.

Global Endemism: All Pacific (West + Central + East); Indo-Pacific only (Indian + Pacific Oceans); TEP non-endemic; "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific); All species.

Habitat: Water column.

Inshore Offshore: Offshore; Offshore Only.

IUCN Red List: Not evaluated / Listed.

Length Max: 500 cm.

Regional Endemism: Island (s); Continent; Continent + Island (s); Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic; Eastern Pacific non-endemic; All species.

Residency: Resident.

Salinity: Marine; Marine Only.

Water Column Position: Mid Water; Near Surface; Surface; Water column only;

Links to other sites


References
  • Acero, A. and Franke, R., 2001., Peces del parque nacional natural Gorgona. En: Barrios, L. M. y M. Lopéz-Victoria (Eds.). Gorgona marina: Contribución al conocimiento de una isla única., INVEMAR, Serie Publicaciones Especiales No. 7:123-131.
  • Béarez, P., 1996., Lista de los Peces Marinos del Ecuador Continental., Revista de Biologia Tropical, 44:731-741.
  • Castro-Aguirre, J.L. and Balart, E.F., 2002., La ictiofauna de las islas Revillagigedos y sus relaciones zoogeograficas, con comentarios acerca de su origen y evolucion. En: Lozano-Vilano, M. L. (Ed.). Libro Jubilar en Honor al Dr. Salvador Contreras Balderas., Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León:153-170.
  • Findley, L.T., Hendrickx, M.E., Brusca, R.C., van der Heiden, A.M., Hastings, P.A., Torre, J., 2003., Diversidad de la Macrofauna Marina del Golfo de California, Mexico., CD-ROM versión 1.0. Projecto de la Macrofauna del Golfo .  Derechos reservados de los autores y Conservación Internacional.
  • Galván-Magaña, F., Gutiérrez-Sánchez, F., Abitia-Cárdenas, L.A., Rodríguez-Romero, J., 2000., The distribution and affinities of the shore fishes of the Baja California Sur lagoons. In Aquatic Ecosystems of Mexico: Status and Scope. Eds. M. Manuwar, S.G. Lawrence, I.F. Manuwar & D.F. Malley. Ecovision World Monograph Series., Backhuys Publishers:383-398.
  • Graves , J. E. and McDowell, J. R., 1995., Inter-ocean genetic divergence of istiophorid billfishes., Marine Biology, 122:193-203.
  • Grove , J.S. and Lavenberg, R. J., 1997., The fishes of the Galápagos islands., Stanford University Press:863 pp.
  • Jimenez-Prado, P., Béarez, P., 2004., Peces marinos del Ecuador continental / Marine fishes of continental Ecuador., SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA tomo 1 y 2.
  • Jordan , and Snyder,., 1901., Descriptions of nine new species of fishes contained in museums of Japan., J. Coll. Sci. Imp. Univ. Tokyo, 15:301-311.
  • Joseph , J. , Klawe , W. and Murphy, P., 1988., Tuna and Billfish - fish without a country., Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission:69.
  • Lopez , M. I. and Bussing, W. A., 1982., Lista provisional de los peces marinos de la Costa Rica., Revista de Biologia Tropical, 30(1):5-26.
  • Love, M.S., Mecklenburg, C.W., Mecklenburg, T.A., Thorsteinson, L.K., 2005., es of the West Coast and Alaska: a checklist of North Pacific and Artic Ocena species from Baja California to the Alaska-Yukon border., U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, 288pp.
  • Molina, L., Danulat, E., Oviedo, M., González, J.A., 2004., Guía de especies de interés pesquero en la Reserva Marina de Galápagos., Fundación Charles Darwin / Agencia Espeñola de Cooperación Internacional / Dirección Parque Nacional Galápagos, 115pp.
  • Nakamura,., 1985., Billfishes of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of marlins, sailfishes, spearfishes and swordfishes known to date. FAO species catalogue Vol. 5., FAO Fish. Synop. No 125, 125.
  • Ramírez Rodríguez, M., 1997., Producción pesquera en la Bahía de La Paz, B.C.S.. En Urbán Ramírez, J. y M. Ramírez Rodríguez (Eds.). La Bahía de La Paz investigación y conservación., Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur:273-282.
  • Van der Heiden , A. M. and Findley, L. T., 1988., Lista de los peces marinos del sur de Sinaloa, México., Anales del Centro de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia de la Universidad Autonoma Nacional de Mexico, 15:209-224.


Acknowledgements

I thank Ashley MacDonald and John Pickering, University of Georgia, for technical support in building this page.


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