How do marlin breed

It is believed that they spawn in pairs, as opposed to communal or mass spawning. FEEDING: White marlin feed on small fish, such as herring and dolphinfish, and on invertebrates, such as squid, which are swallowed whole.

The foraging and movement patterns of white marlin reflect the distribution and scarcity of their prey in the open seas. They must cover vast expanses of ocean in search of sufficient amounts of food. White marlin are solitary hunters, although these predators sometimes become concentrated in areas where prey is dense.

They are also highly migratory, and will follow warm ocean currents for hundreds and even thousands of miles. Blue marlins prefer the higher temperature of surface waters, feeding on mackerel and tuna, but will also dive deep to eat squid. They are among the fastest fish in the ocean, and use their spears to slash through dense schools, returning to eat their stunned and wounded victims.

Known for putting up a tremendous fight when hooked, these rare marine monsters are the holy grail for sport fishers. Their meat is considered a delicacy, particularly in Japan, where it is served raw as sashimi.

Although not currently endangered, conservationists worry that they are being unsustainably fished, particularly in the Atlantic. All rights reserved. Common Name: Blue Marlin. Scientific Name: Makaira nigricans.

Type: Fish. Diet: Carnivore. Group Name: School. A large male in spawning condition may produce as much as billion or more sperm cells. The amount of milt released during a single spawning has not yet been determined, but billions upon billions of sperm may be needed in order to be sure that fertilization occurs.

The difference lies in the energy investment needed for the production of eggs and sperm, and in the timing of their production by the different sexes.

And, while the females produce all their eggs at the very beginning of the season, males can produce sperm cells continuously throughout the length of the season, spreading their effort out. The lower cost of reproduction for the males has been suggested as an explanation for their smaller size.

The study of marlin reproduction may provide answers to questions about the factors important in the reproductive success of marlin populations and the ability of marlin populations to replace themselves.

Other handy visual adaptations also help billfish to catch and eat food. For example, the area of best vision As adults, they eat fairly large bony fishes and squids. Similarly, blue marlin are eaten by a wide variety of predators. When they are newly hatched, they are eaten by other fishes that specialize on eating plankton.

The size of their predators increases as they grow, and adult blue marlin are not eaten by anything other than large open ocean shark species. The blue marlin is a highly migratory species, with individuals migrating across entire ocean basins and even between oceans. One individual, for example, was tagged off the east coast of the United States western Atlantic Ocean and recaptured in the Indian Ocean. Like many migratory species, the females are larger than males. In fact, adult female blue marlin are as much as four times the size of the largest males.