Tetrapturus pfluegeri, Longbill spearfish : fisheries, gamefish

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Tetrapturus pfluegeri Robins & de Sylva, 1963

Longbill spearfish
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangiformes (Jacks) > Istiophoridae (Billfishes)
Etymology: Tetrapturus: Greek, tetra = four + Greek, pteron, fin, wing (Ref. 45335).
More on authors: Robins & deSylva.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 200 m (Ref. 43), usually 100 - ? m (Ref. 4770). Subtropical; 44°N - 33°S, 98°W - 17°E (Ref. 43)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Atlantic Ocean: widely distributed in offshore waters, much more densely so in the western than in the eastern Atlantic. Highly migratory species.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 254 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 165 cm OT male/unsexed; (Ref. 43); max. published weight: 58.0 kg (Ref. 40637)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 50-57; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 18 - 21; Vertebrae: 24. Blue-black above, silvery white splattered with brown on the sides, silvery white below; dorsal fins dark blue; pectorals blackish brown, occasionally with tinges of greyish white; pelvic fins blue-black with a black fin membrane; 1st anal fin dark blue with silvery white at base; 2nd anal fin blackish brown.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Oceanic species, chiefly found in offshore waters, usually above the thermocline. Feed mainly on pelagic fishes and squids (Ref. 4770). Females probably spawn once a year (Ref. 4770). Marketed frozen.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Maturation seems to occur at the same time rather than in the same season both in the northern and southern hemisphere, which could be suggestive of homogeneity of the population of this species. Females probably spawn once a year (Ref. 4770).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Nakamura, I., 1985. FAO species catalogue. Vol. 5. Billfishes of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of marlins, sailfishes, spearfishes and swordfishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(5):65p. Rome: FAO. (Ref. 43)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 15 September 2010

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

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FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
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Ecology
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Common names
Synonyms
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Predators
Ecotoxicology
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Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
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Larvae
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 14.1 - 23.7, mean 18.2 °C (based on 140 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5630   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00447 (0.00193 - 0.01034), b=3.14 (2.94 - 3.34), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.4   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (Assuming tm=2-4).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  High to very high vulnerability (65 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Low.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 37.9 [17.3, 66.4] mg/100g; Iron = 1.05 [0.60, 1.83] mg/100g; Protein = 19.7 [18.5, 20.8] %; Omega3 = 0.231 [0.124, 0.428] g/100g; Selenium = 44.6 [22.8, 89.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 5.4 [1.7, 17.5] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.368 [0.250, 0.552] mg/100g (wet weight);