The Billfish Family – Istiophoridae

There are currently FIVE members of the Billfish or Istiophoridae Family, two from the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and two from the Pacific Ocean, presented in this website:

FROM THE ATLANTIC AND THE PACIFIC (2):

FROM THE PACIFIC (3):

The fish of the Billfish or Istiophoridae family include the marlins, sailfish, and spearfish. Globally there are eleven known Istiophoridae that have been placed in five genera of which eight are found in Mexican waters, three in the Atlantic, three in the Pacific, and two reside in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. All are large, oceanic, pelagic surface fish found in the upper layer of the water column in tropical and subtropical waters. In Mexico they are known as picudos. They all have long compressed bodies with a prolonged upper bill that forms a long spear with a rounded cross section, which is used as a spear to attack and stun prey. Their mouth is not protrusible and is equipped with fine, rasp-like teeth on both jaws. They have wide gill openings without gill rakers and double keels at the base of their strongly forked tail. Their first dorsal fin typically has a tall front lobe and a long base that is quite low and ends very close to the origin of the much smaller second dorsal fin. Their anal and dorsal fin can be depressed into grooves. Their caudal fins are large, strong, and forked. They have short and narrow pelvic fins and visible lateral lines. They are covered with narrow pointed scales.

The Billfish are generally blue on their back and upper sides and transition to silvery white ventrally. Some species have horizontally aligned spots or longitudinal lines on their body and/or black spots on their first dorsal fin membrane. They are voracious predators that follow schools of smaller fish and squid upon which they prey. They are very fast swimmers and some even migrate across oceans. They reach a maximum length of 4.0 m (13 feet 1 inches). The Billfishes are poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Billfish are renowned and prized game fish pursued for their large size and fighting abilities with hundreds of millions of dollars spent each year by recreational anglers in their pursuit. Many billfish are caught commercially by longliners and sold primarily in Japan commanding high prices. However, none of these fish are considered “good eating” and we strongly urge that as many fish as possible be handled as “catch and release.”