''Tetrapturus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

marlin Marlins are fish from the family Istiophoridae, which includes between 9 and 11 species, depending on the taxonomic authority. Name The family's common name is thought to derive from their resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike. Taxonomy T ...

s commonly called spearfish or spearchucker fish in Eastern Europe, found in tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world. Some are popular

sport fish Game fish, sport fish or quarry refer to popular fish species pursued by recreational fishers (typically anglers), and can be freshwater or saltwater fish. Game fish can be eaten after being caught, preserved as taxidermy (though rare), or ...

big-game fishing Big-game fishing, also known as offshore sportfishing, offshore gamefishing or blue-water fishing, is a form of recreational fishing targeting large game fish, usually on a large body of water such as a sea or ocean. History Big-game fishing st ...

Species

There are currently four recognized species in this genus: * ''

Tetrapturus angustirostris The shortbill spearfish (''Tetrapturus angustirostris''), sometimes called the short-nosed spearfish, is a species of marlin native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, with occasional records from the Atlantic Ocean. This species occurs in open ...

'' S. Tanaka (I), 1915 (Shortbill spearfish) * ''

Tetrapturus belone The Mediterranean spearfish (''Tetrapturus belone'') is a species of marlin native to the Mediterranean Sea where it is particularly common around Italy, although there is a probable record of one caught off Madeira. It is an open-water fish, bei ...

Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; 22 October 178318 September 1840) was a French early 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ult ...

, 1810 (Mediterranean spearfish) * ''

Tetrapturus georgii The roundscale spearfish (''Tetrapturus georgii'') is an Marlin, Istiophoridae species of marlin living in the epipelagic zone of the Atlantic Ocean. It has long been misidentified as white marlin but can be differentiated thanks to their scale s ...

'' R. T. Lowe, 1841 (Roundscale spearfish) * ''

Tetrapturus pfluegeri The longbill spearfish (''Tetrapturus pfluegeri'') is a species of marlin native to the Atlantic Ocean where it is found above the thermocline in open waters between 40°N and 35°S. This species can reach a length of FL and the maximum weight ...

'' C. R. Robins & de Sylva, 1963 (Longbill spearfish) Fossil relatives of spearfishes include '' Prototetrapturus'' from the

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, and both '' Pizzikoskerma'' & '' Sicophasma'' from the late Miocene of Italy. All are placed in the clade Tetrapturomorpha.

References

Marine fish genera Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque {{Scombroidei-stub