Makaira nigricans, Blue marlin : fisheries, gamefish

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Makaira nigricans Lacepède, 1802

Blue marlin
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Makaira nigricans   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Makaira nigricans (Blue marlin)
Makaira nigricans
Female Picture by Baumeier, E.

Common names from other countries

Makaire bleu, Aguja azul, 蓝枪鱼, ... more

Classification / Names Nombres comunes | Sinónimos | Catalog of Fishes(Género, Especie) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

> Carangiformes (Jacks) > Istiophoridae (Billfishes)
Etymology: Makaira: Greek,makaira, -as = happy, rich (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Lacepède.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / rango de profundidad / distribution range Ecología

marino pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromo (Ref. 51243); rango de profundidad 0 - 1000 m (Ref. 43). Subtropical; 22°C - 31°C (Ref. 43); 50°N - 45°S, 180°W - 180°E (Ref. 43)

Distribución Países | Áreas FAO | Ecosistemas | Ocurrencias, apariciones | Mapa de puntos | Introducciones | Faunafri

Atlantic Ocean: in tropical and temperate waters. We follow Nakamura 1985 (Ref. 43) in recognizing Makaira mazara and Makaira nigricans as two distinct species chiefly because of differences in the pattern of the lateral line system. Many scientists, however, do not recognize this character as specifically diagnostic and consider the latter species as a single pantropical species occurring in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Highly migratory species.

Length at first maturity / Tamaño / Peso / Age

Madurez: Lm ?, range 50 - ? cm
Max length : 500 cm TL macho / no sexado; (Ref. 11441); 500.0 cm TL (female); common length : 290 cm TL macho / no sexado; (Ref. 6659); peso máximo publicado: 636.0 kg (Ref. 40637); peso máximo publicado: 636.0 kg; edad máxima reportada: 20 años (Ref. 120707)

Short description Claves de identificación | Morfología | Morfometría

Espinas dorsales (total) : 0; Radios blandos dorsales (total) : 45 - 50; Espinas anales: 0; Radios blandos anales: 19 - 23. Body blue-black above and silvery white below, with about 15 rows of pale cobalt-colored stripes; 1st dorsal fin plain blackish or dark blue, other fins brown black with a tinge of dark blue in some specimens; anal fin bases with a tinge of silvery white. Lateral line a network of interconnecting canals (Ref. 26938).
Body shape (shape guide): elongated.

Biología     Glosario (por ej. epibenthic)

An oceanic species. Water color affects its occurrence, at least in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where the fish show preference for blue water. Rarely gathers in schools and usually found as scattered single individuals. Feeds mainly on fishes but also preys on octopods and squids. Marketed fresh or frozen (Ref. 43). Feeding takes place during daytime. Maturity reached at about 80 cm in males and 50 cm in females (Ref. 36731). Females grow larger (Ref. 4770). Recent study indicates maximum age close to 20 years using a series of deductions in the ¹⁴C dating method (Ref. 120707).

Life cycle and mating behavior Madurez | Reproducción | Puesta | Huevos | Fecundidad | Larva

Subripe ova are opaque, white to yellow, and 0.3 to 0.5 mm in diameter. Transparent spherical eggs flowing out of a ripe ovary measured 1 mm in diameter.

Main reference Upload your references | Referencias | Coordinador | Colaboradores

Nakamura, I., 1985. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 5. Billfishes of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of marlins, sailfishes, spearfishes and swordfishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(5):65p. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 43)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)

  Vulnerable (VU) (A2bd); Date assessed: 10 May 2021

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Pesquerías: comercial; pesca deportiva: si
FAO - pesquerías: landings; Publication: search | FIRMS - Stock assessments | FishSource | Sea Around Us

Más información

Ecología Trófica
Food items (preys)
Composición de la dieta
consumo de alimento
Food rations
Despredadores
Ecología
Ecología
Home ranges
Population dynamics
Coeficiente del crecimiento para
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Reclutamiento
Abundancia
Life cycle
Reproducción
Madurez
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundidad
Puesta
Spawning aggregations
Huevos
Egg development
Larva
Dinámica larvaria
Distribución
Países
Áreas FAO
Ecosistemas
Ocurrencias, apariciones
Introducciones
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Superficie branquial
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Consumo del oxígeno
Tipo de natación
Velocidad de natación
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genética
Genome
Genética
Heterozygosity
heritabilidad
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Perfiles de acuicultura
Razas
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
Outreach
Colaboradores
Taxonomy
Nombres comunes
Sinónimos
Morfología
Morfometría
Imágenes
Referencias
Referencias

Herramientas

E-book | Guía de campo | Claves de identificación | Asistente para frecuencias de tallas | Herramienta de ciclo de vida | Mapa de puntos | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

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Summary page | Datos específicos | Nombres comunes | Photos

Fuentes de Internet

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: Género, Especie | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - pesquerías: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | Bases de datos nacionales | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | RFE Identification | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Árbol de la vida | Wikipedia: Go, búsqueda | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Expediente Zoológico

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Referencia 123201): 11.5 - 27.3, mean 22.4 °C (based on 477 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Referencia 82804):  PD50 = 0.7505   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00427 (0.00255 - 0.00714), b=3.11 (2.96 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Nivel trófico (Referencia 69278):  4.5   ±0.3 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 3.4 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resiliencia (Referencia 120179):  Bajo, población duplicada en un tiempo mínimo de 4.5-14 años (K=0.3-1.5; tmax=20; Fec>10,000).
Prior r = 0.44, 95% CL = 0.29 - 0.66, Based on 6 full stock assessments.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (52 of 100). 🛈
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate to high vulnerability (50 of 100). 🛈
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 23.3 [9.7, 43.0] mg/100g; Iron = 0.898 [0.478, 1.711] mg/100g; Protein = 19.8 [18.5, 21.0] %; Omega3 = 0.245 [0.123, 0.499] g/100g; Selenium = 71.6 [34.5, 159.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 3.61 [0.99, 13.41] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.283 [0.180, 0.446] mg/100g (wet weight);