Fish
Shortbill Spearfish
Tetrapturus angustirostris
The rarest and smallest billfish off South Africa, with a notably short bill and slender body in the warm offshore current.
Also known as marlin spearfish shortbill
- Typical size
- Commonly 1.5-1.9 m
- Habitat
- Open ocean, warm offshore water
- Depth
- Surface waters, upper 100 m
The shortbill spearfish is the least common of the billfishes taken off South Africa, distinguished by an unusually short upper bill barely longer than the lower jaw. The body is long and slim with a low, continuous dorsal fin, dark blue above fading to silver below.
It is an open-ocean fish of the warm Agulhas current, ranging widely offshore and only occasionally caught by ski-boat and game anglers off KwaZulu-Natal. Like other billfishes it is a fast pelagic predator feeding on small fish and squid near the surface. Because it is scarce and poorly known, catch-and-release is strongly encouraged.