Tetrapturus angustirostris, Shortbill spearfish : fisheries, gamefish

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Tetrapturus angustirostris Tanaka, 1915

Shortbill spearfish
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Tetrapturus angustirostris   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Tetrapturus angustirostris (Shortbill spearfish)
Tetrapturus angustirostris
Picture by Vidthayanon, C.

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 author: Tanaka.

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

Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 1830 m (Ref. 86942), usually 0 - 350 m (Ref. 89423). Subtropical; 43°N - 56°S, 20°E - 68°W

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

Indian and Pacific: tropical and temperate waters. Although some stray individuals are found in the Atlantic Ocean, this species is believed to have its spawning grounds and principal populations only in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Highly migratory species.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 230 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9308); common length : 190 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9308); max. published weight: 52.0 kg (Ref. 43)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 51-57; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 18 - 23. Dark blue above, blue splattered with brown on the sides, silvery white below; 1st dorsal fin plain dark blue, other fins brown or dark brown; anal fin bases with tinges of silvery white.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Oceanic and epipelagic, found above the thermocline (Ref. 9308). Feeds on fishes, cephalopods and crustaceans. Also caught as a by-catch of long lines with hooks intended for tuna. Marketed frozen and prepared as fish cakes and sashimi in Japan (Ref. 9308). Also prepared as sausages.

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

Spawning is believed to occur mainly during the winter months, especially in warm offshore currents with surface temperature of about 25°C.

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)

  Data deficient (DD) ; Date assessed: 15 November 2021

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

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
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References
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Ciguatera
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Otoliths
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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): 13.9 - 28.8, mean 26.2 °C (based on 5116 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5630   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00457 (0.00227 - 0.00920), b=3.21 (3.03 - 3.39), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.76 se; based on food items.
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):  Moderate vulnerability (45 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 35.6 [15.9, 65.1] mg/100g; Iron = 1.07 [0.56, 2.01] mg/100g; Protein = 19.6 [18.3, 20.8] %; Omega3 = 0.296 [0.155, 0.612] g/100g; Selenium = 69.5 [32.9, 148.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 5.16 [1.47, 18.59] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.345 [0.222, 0.536] mg/100g (wet weight);