Ecuador country information

Common names: Merlín negro, Picudo, Picudo negro
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Also Ref. 43.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ec.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Béarez, P., 1996
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Makaire noir, Aguja negra, Short nosed sword fish, ... more

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangiformes (Jacks) > Istiophoridae (Billfishes)
Etymology: More on author: Cuvier.

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

Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 915 m (Ref. 43), usually 0 - 200 m (Ref. 43). Subtropical; 15°C - 30°C (Ref. 43); 44°N - 47°S, 18°E - 69°W (Ref. 43)

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

Indo-Pacific: tropical and subtropical waters, occasionally entering temperate waters. Stray individuals migrate into the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Cape of Good Hope, but the existence of Atlantic breeding stocks is unlikely. Highly migratory species.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 465 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 380 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 30573); max. published weight: 750.0 kg (Ref. 5503)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 39 - 50; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 16 - 21. Body elongate and not very compressed; upper jaw produced into a robust but not very long beak; two dorsal fins, the height of the first less then the greatest body depth, becoming shorter posteriorly; pectoral fins falcate and rigid, with 19 to 20 rays; body densely covered with small, embedded scales with 1 or 2 sharp points; back dark blue; belly silvery white; membrane of first dorsal fin blue black, without spots; flanks without spots (Ref. 55763). Dark blue above, silvery white below; sometimes with light blue vertical stripes; 1st dorsal fin blackish to dark blue, other fins dark brown with tinges of dark blue in some specimens.

Oceanic, usually found in surface waters above the thermocline, often near shore close to land masses, islands and coral reefs. Feed on fishes, squids, cuttlefishes, octopods, large decapod crustaceans and mostly on small tunas when abundant (Ref. 9668). The flesh is of good quality; marketed refrigerated or frozen and prepared as sashimi in Japan (Ref. 9308). Also Ref. 9692.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturities | Reproduction | Spawnings | Egg(s) | Fecundities | Larvae

Believed to prefer water temperatures around 27° to 28°C during spawning. Egg counts of ripe roe totaled about 40 million per female.

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: 01 May 2021

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes

FAO(Fisheries: production; publication : search) | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet compositions
Food consumptions
Food rations
Predators

Ecology
Ecology
Home ranges

Population dynamics
Growths
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversions
Recruitments
Abundances

Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturities
Fecundities
Spawnings
Spawning aggregations
Egg(s)
Egg developments
Larvae
Larval dynamics

Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos

Anatomy
Gill areas
Brains
Otoliths

Physiology
Body compositions
Nutrients
Oxygen consumptions
Swimming type
Swimming speeds
Visual pigment(s)
Fish sounds
Diseases / Parasites
Toxicities (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritabilities

Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.

Outreach
Collaborators

Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
Pictures

References
References

Tools

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 16 - 28.4, mean 25.4 (based on 3272 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 1.0005 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00447 (0.00209 - 0.00953), b=3.13 (2.93 - 3.33), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 4.5 ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 120179): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.47(?); Fec=67 million; assuming tm>2).

Prior r = 0.28, 95% CL = 0.19 - 0.42, Based on 2 full stock assessments.

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Very high vulnerability (78 of 100).

Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649): Very high vulnerability (76 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.

Istiompax indica (Cuvier, 1832)