Tetrapturus audaxBarred marlin(Also: Marlin; Pacific striped marlin; Spearfish; Spikefish)

Ge­o­graphic Range

Striped mar­lin are pelagic bill­fish na­tive to the In­dian and Pa­cific oceans. They are found in coastal wa­ters off­shore of Africa, Mex­ico, South Amer­ica, and New Zealand. In North Amer­i­can wa­ters, Striped mar­lin are most com­mon south of Point Con­cep­tion, Cal­i­for­nia, but range as far north as Ore­gon. ("Cal­i­for­nia De­part­ment of Fish and Game", 2002)

Habi­tat

Striped mar­lin in­habit pelagic wa­ters and their pop­u­la­tion den­sity is pos­i­tively cor­re­lated with dis­tance from shore. These fish are gen­er­ally found in the epipelagic zone. (Goodyear, et al., 2003)

  • Range depth
    0 to 200 m
    0.00 to 656.17 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Striped mar­lin are bony fish that are sim­i­lar in ap­pear­ance to sail­fish, with a dis­tin­guish­able dif­fer­ence in the dor­sal fin (in Striped mar­lin the dor­sal fin is much smaller and ta­pers to­ward the cau­dle pe­dun­cle). With a fusiform-shaped body, striped mar­lin glide through the water with lit­tle re­sis­tance. Striped mar­lin have the thinnest bill amongst all bill­fishes and slash their prey as op­posed to im­pal­ing them as other mem­bers of the fam­ily do. Striped mar­lin have a dis­tinct color pat­tern­ing of 10-20 blue bars ex­tend­ing from the head and con­tin­u­ing to the cau­dal fin. When the fish is ex­cited, the col­oration of these bars rapidly changes from blue to laven­der via the con­trac­tion or ex­pan­sion of chro­matophores (spe­cial pig­mented cells in the in­tegu­ment). (Luna and Bailly, 2011)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • female larger
  • Range mass
    224 (high) kg
    493.39 (high) lb
  • Range length
    3.35 (high) m
    10.99 (high) ft

De­vel­op­ment

After spawn­ing has oc­curred, fer­til­ized eggs de­velop into plank­tonic, lecithotropic lar­vae that drift for sev­eral weeks to months be­fore the lar­vae de­velop into small fry. Lit­tle is known specif­i­cally about the early life stages of this species. (Naka­mura, 1985)

Re­pro­duc­tion

Striped mar­lin form groups and/or schools dur­ing their re­pro­duc­tive sea­son. As a broad­cast spawn­ing species, males and fe­males po­ten­tially have mul­ti­ple mates. Fur­ther in­for­ma­tion re­gard­ing courtship be­hav­ior is cur­rently un­avail­able. (Naka­mura, 1985)

Fe­male striped mar­lin reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity at 1.5-2.5 years of age while males reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity at 1-2 years of age. Striped mar­lin re­pro­duce by broad­cast spawn­ing (the fe­male re­leases eggs which are fer­til­ized in the water col­umn). Fe­males may pro­duce 11-29 mil­lion eggs an­nu­ally. (Abitı́a-Cárde­nas, et al., 2002)

  • Breeding interval
    Striped marlin spawn annually.
  • Breeding season
    Striped marlin spawn during the months of November and December
  • Range number of offspring
    11 million to 29 million
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    1.5 to 2.5 years
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    1 to 2 years

Ga­metes are shed into the water dur­ing spawn­ing; there is no fur­ther parental care. (Kar­le­skint, et al., 2006)

  • Parental Investment
  • no parental involvement

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Striped mar­lin live from 8 to 10 years. They are not main­tained in cap­tiv­ity. ("Cal­i­for­nia De­part­ment of Fish and Game", 2002)

  • Range lifespan
    Status: wild
    8 to 10 years
  • Typical lifespan
    Status: wild
    8 to 10 years

Be­hav­ior

The be­hav­ior of striped mar­lin in the Pa­cific Ocean was an­a­lyzed using data from in­di­vid­u­als tagged be­tween 2005 and 2008. In­di­vi­uals in the South­west Pa­cific Ocean were found on av­er­age to swim 200 me­ters deeper than those in the Cen­tral and East­ern Pa­cific Ocean. Striped mar­lin found closer to the equa­tor gen­er­ally swam faster and deeper than con­specifics at higher lat­i­tudes. (Sip­pel, et al., 2011)

Home Range

Striped mar­lin, like other bill­fish, range through­out the pelagic zone. They do not main­tain a spe­cific home range. (Naka­mura, 1985)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Striped mar­lin may com­mu­ni­cate vi­su­ally with con­specifics via use of their chro­matophores. Such com­mu­ni­ca­tion may be used to sig­nal spawn­ing readi­ness. Like other teleost fishes, striped mar­lin have ol­fac­tory nares to de­tect chem­i­cals in the water, help­ing them find mates or prey. They also have large eyes which en­able them to hunt at night or at depths with low lev­els of light. The lat­eral line, run­ning along the sides of the fish, senses pres­sure dif­fer­ences and height­ens its aware­ness of its sur­round­ings. (Kar­le­skint, et al., 2006)

Food Habits

Plank­tonic lar­vae and small ju­ve­niles con­sume zoo­plank­ton. Di­etary analy­sis of adult striped mar­lin dur­ing a yearly cycle in the south­ern Gulf of Cal­i­for­nia, Mex­ico, found prey con­sist­ing of epipelagic or­gan­isms from the ner­itic and oceanic zones. The most abun­dant prey noted were chub mack­erel (Scomber japon­i­cas), Cal­i­for­nia pilchard (Sardinops sagax) and jumbo squid (Do­sidi­cus gigas). (Abitı́a-Cárde­nas, et al., 2002)

  • Animal Foods
  • fish
  • mollusks
  • other marine invertebrates
  • zooplankton

Pre­da­tion

The only known preda­tors of this species are great white sharks, killer whales, and hu­mans. ("IUCN Red List", 2000)

  • Anti-predator Adaptations
  • cryptic

Ecosys­tem Roles

Striped mar­lin have an im­por­tant role in the epipelagic ma­rine food chain as apex preda­tors, help­ing to reg­u­late the pop­u­la­tion of cephalopods and fish. Fur­ther­more, this species hosts a num­ber of par­a­sites, in­clud­ing cope­pods and a va­ri­ety of flat­worm species. (Benz, 2005; Kohn, et al., 2006; Naka­mura, 1985)

Com­men­sal/Par­a­sitic Species
  • Gloiopotes hut­toni (Sub­class Cope­poda, Sub­phy­lum Crus­tacea)
  • Pen­nella filosa (Sub­class Cope­poda, Sub­phy­lum Crus­tacea)
  • Cap­sala ovalis (Class Mono­ge­nea, Phy­lum Platy­helminthes)
  • Cap­sa­loides hof­man­nae (Class Mono­ge­nea, Phy­lum Platy­helminthes)
  • Cap­sa­loides is­tio­phori (Class Mono­ge­nea, Phy­lum Platy­helminthes)
  • Cap­sa­loides sin­u­a­tus (Class Mono­ge­nea, Phy­lum Platy­helminthes)
  • Tris­tomella lae­vis (Class Mono­ge­nea, Phy­lum Platy­helminthes)
  • Tris­tomella pri­cei (Class Mono­ge­nea, Phy­lum Platy­helminthes)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Striped mar­lin fight when caught by hook and line, pro­vid­ing sport fish­er­men with recre­ational op­por­tu­ni­ties. Catch and re­lease of this species is rec­om­mended in wa­ters of the United States. While this species is not usu­ally con­sumed in the United States, it is con­sid­ered a del­i­cacy in Asia. ("Cal­i­for­nia De­part­ment of Fish and Game", 2002)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

There are no known ad­verse ef­fects of striped mar­lin on hu­mans, though eat­ing striped mar­lin and other large preda­tory fishes may put peo­ple at risk of ill­ness due to high lev­els of mer­cury re­tained within the fish's mus­cle tis­sue. (Tracey and Solly, 1981)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

It is es­ti­mated that pop­u­la­tions of striped mar­lin have de­clined by 20-25% since the mid 1990s. More de­tailed and fre­quent stock as­sess­ments in the In­dian Ocean as well as the north­west Pa­cific Ocean need to be con­ducted to ob­tain basic bi­o­log­i­cal in­for­ma­tion on this species for its ef­fec­tive man­age­ment. ("IUCN Red List", 2000)

Con­trib­u­tors

Nathaniel Roughton Nicholas Shan­non (au­thor), San Diego Mesa Col­lege, Paul De­twiler (ed­i­tor), San Diego Mesa Col­lege, Je­remy Wright (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Pacific Ocean

body of water between the southern ocean (above 60 degrees south latitude), Australia, Asia, and the western hemisphere. This is the world's largest ocean, covering about 28% of the world's surface.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

coastal

the nearshore aquatic habitats near a coast, or shoreline.

cryptic

having markings, coloration, shapes, or other features that cause an animal to be camouflaged in its natural environment; being difficult to see or otherwise detect.

diurnal
  1. active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
ecotourism

humans benefit economically by promoting tourism that focuses on the appreciation of natural areas or animals. Ecotourism implies that there are existing programs that profit from the appreciation of natural areas or animals.

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

external fertilization

fertilization takes place outside the female's body

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

food

A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

indeterminate growth

Animals with indeterminate growth continue to grow throughout their lives.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

migratory

makes seasonal movements between breeding and wintering grounds

molluscivore

eats mollusks, members of Phylum Mollusca

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

natatorial

specialized for swimming

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

pelagic

An aquatic biome consisting of the open ocean, far from land, does not include sea bottom (benthic zone).

piscivore

an animal that mainly eats fish

planktivore

an animal that mainly eats plankton

polygynandrous

the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.

saltwater or marine

mainly lives in oceans, seas, or other bodies of salt water.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

tropical

the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.

vibrations

movements of a hard surface that are produced by animals as signals to others

visual

uses sight to communicate

zooplankton

animal constituent of plankton; mainly small crustaceans and fish larvae. (Compare to phytoplankton.)

Ref­er­ences

2002. "Cal­i­for­nia De­part­ment of Fish and Game" (On-line). Ac­cessed April 23, 2012 at www.​dfg.​ca.​gov/​marine/​mspcont7.​asp#​marlin.

2000. "IUCN Red List" (On-line). Ac­cessed Feb­ru­ary 15, 2012 at www.​iucnredlist.​org.

Abitı́a-Cárde­nas, L., A. Muh­lia-Melo, V. Cruz-Escalona, F. Galván-Magaña. 2002. Trophic dy­nam­ics and sea­sonal en­er­get­ics of striped mar­lin Tetrap­turus audax in the South­ern Gulf of Cal­i­for­nia, Mex­ico. Fish­eries Re­search, 57/3: 287-295. Ac­cessed April 14, 2012 at www.​sciencedirect.​com/​science/​article/​pii/​S0165783601003502.

Benz, G. 2005. Tax­o­nomic sta­tus of Peni­cil­lus Kumar et Hameed, 1993 and its only species, P. in­di­cus Kumar et Hameed, 1993 (Pen­nel­l­i­dae, Siphonos­tom­a­toida, Cope­poda). Acta Ichthy­olog­ica et Pis­ca­to­ria, 35/2: 139-145. Ac­cessed Au­gust 05, 2012 at http://​www.​marinespecies.​org/​aphia.​php?​p=taxdetails&​id=135999.

Goodyear, C., D. Die, D. Ker­stet­ter, D. Olson, E. Prince, G. Scott. 2003. Habi­tat Stan­dard­iza­tion of CPUE in­dices: re­search needs. ICCAT Col­lec­tive Vol­ume of Sci­en­tific Pa­pers, 55/1: 613-623. Ac­cessed April 08, 2012 at www.​iccat.​int/​Documents/​CVSP/​CV055_​2003/​no_​2/​CV055020613.​pdf.

Hyde, L., R. Humphreys Jr., M. Musyl, R. Vet­ter. 2006. A cen­tral north Pa­cific spawn­ing ground for striped mar­lin, Tetrap­turus audax. Bul­letin Ma­rine Sci­ence, 79: 683-690. Ac­cessed May 25, 2012 at www.​soest.​hawaii.​edu/​PFRP/​reprints/​hyde_​2006.​pdf.

Kar­le­skint, G., R. Turner, J. Small. 2006. In­tro­duc­tion to Ma­rine Bi­ol­ogy, Third Edi­tion. Bel­mont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Kohn, A., S. Cohen, G. Sal­gado-Mal­don­ado. 2006. Check­list of Mono­ge­nea par­a­sites of fresh­wa­ter and ma­rine fishes, am­phib­ians and rep­tiles from Mex­ico, Cen­tral Amer­ica and the Caribbean. Zootaxa, 1289: 1-114. Ac­cessed Au­gust 05, 2012 at http://​www.​ibiologia.​unam.​mx/​pdf/​directorio/​s/​salgado/​monogenea_​kohn.​pdf.

Luna, S., N. Bailly. 2011. "Ka­jikia audax (Philippi, 1887) Striped mar­lin" (On-line). Ac­cessed April 03, 2012 at http://​www.​fishbase.​org/​Summary/​SpeciesSummary.​php?​ID=223&​AT=Striped+Marlin.

Naka­mura, I. 1985. Bill­fishes of the World. Rome, Italy: Food and Agri­cul­ture Or­ga­ni­za­tion of the United Na­tions. Ac­cessed Au­gust 05, 2012 at http://​www.​fao.​org/​docrep/​009/​ac480e/​ac480e00.​htm.

Sip­pel, T., J. Holdsworth, T. Den­nis, J. Mont­gomery. 2011. In­ves­ti­gat­ing Be­hav­iour and Pop­u­la­tion Dy­nam­ics of Striped Mar­lin (Ka­jikia audax) from the South­west Pa­cific Ocean with Satel­lite Tags. PLoS ONE, 6/6: "1-13".

Tracey, D., S. Solly. 1981. Mer­cury lev­els in some New Zealand sea fishes. New Zealand Jour­nal of Ma­rine and Fresh­wa­ter Re­search, 15/2: "137-146".

Walker, C. 2010. "Gloiopotes hut­toni" (On-line). World Cope­pods Data­base. Ac­cessed May 25, 2012 at http://​www.​marinespecies.​org/​copepoda/​aphia.​php?​p=taxdetails&​id=358660.