Divefree

Fish

Blue Marlin

Makaira nigricans

A robust oceanic giant reaching well over four metres and 700 kg - one of the most awe-inspiring big-game fish an angler can hook.

Also known as blou marlyn

Blue Marlin
Photo: Keith Martin-Smith · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Typical size
Grows to well over 4 m and 700 kg
Habitat
Open ocean, all major seas

The blue marlin is a robust, only slightly compressed billfish with a long, low first dorsal fin. Found in all major oceans, it and the black marlin grow to well over four metres and 700 kg, rivalled only by the bluefin tuna for the heavyweight big-game title.

For all the stories of boats and floating objects being impaled, the bill is not really used to spear free-swimming prey. Broken marlin bills have turned up embedded in bales of rubber off east Africa, where the fish were most likely chasing small baitfish.