''Makaira'' (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
via
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: ''μαχαίρα'' "sword") is a genus of
marlin
Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes about 10 species. A marlin has an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long, rigid dorsal fin which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to deri ...
in the family
Istiophoridae. It includes the
Atlantic blue, and
Indo-Pacific blue marlins.
In the past, the
black marlin
The black marlin (''Istiompax indica'') is a species of marlin found in tropical and subtropical areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. With a maximum published length of and weight of , it is one of the largest marlins and also one of the la ...
was also included in this genus, but today it is placed in its own genus, ''
Istiompax
The black marlin (''Istiompax indica'') is a species of marlin found in tropical and subtropical areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. With a maximum published length of and weight of , it is one of the largest marlins and also one of the la ...
''.
Species
* ''Makaira nigricans''
Lacepède, 1802 (
Atlantic blue marlin
The Atlantic blue marlin (''Makaira nigricans'') is a species of marlin endemic to the Atlantic Ocean. It is closely related to, and usually considered conspecific with, the Indo-Pacific blue marlin, then simply called blue marlin. Some author ...
)
* ''Makaira mazara''
(Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
& Snyder, 1901) (
Indo-Pacific blue marlin
The Indo-Pacific blue marlin (''Makaira mazara'') is a species of marlin belonging to the family Istiophoridae.
Taxonomy
''Makaira mazara'' is closely related to, and usually considered conspecific with, the Atlantic blue marlin, then simply ca ...
)
Although they are traditionally listed as separate
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...
, recent research indicates that the Atlantic blue marlin (''Makaira nigricans'') and Indo-Pacific blue marlin (''Makaira mazara'') may be
parapatric
In parapatric speciation, two subpopulations of a species evolve reproductive isolation from one another while continuing to exchange genes. This mode of speciation has three distinguishing characteristics: 1) mating occurs non-randomly, 2) gene ...
populations of the same species.
[
]
References
Marine fish genera
{{Scombroidei-stub