Istiophorus albicans, Atlantic sailfish : fisheries, gamefish

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Istiophorus albicans (Latreille, 1804)

Atlantic sailfish
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Istiophorus albicans   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Istiophorus albicans (Atlantic sailfish)
Istiophorus albicans
Picture by Baumeier, E.

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangiformes (Jacks) > Istiophoridae (Billfishes)
Etymology: Istiophorus: Greek, istios = sail + Greek, pherein = to carry (Ref. 45335).

Issue
This species is synonym of Istiophorus platypterus in Eschmeyer (CofF ver. Jan. 2018) according to Collette et al., 2006 (Ref. 84358). Several authors consider it as a valid species.

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

Marine; pelagic-oceanic; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 200 m (Ref. 43). Subtropical; 21°C - 28°C (Ref. 43); 56°N - 55°S, 99°W - 18°E (Ref. 43)

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

Atlantic Ocean: in tropical and temperate waters approximately 40°N in the northwest Atlantic, 50°N in the northeast Atlantic, 40°S in the southwest Atlantic, and 32°S in the southeast Atlantic. Migrating to Mediterranean Sea, mostly based on juvenile specimens. Highly migratory species.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 133.5, range 121 - 146 cm
Max length : 315 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 43); common length : 240 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 58.1 kg (Ref. 43); max. reported age: 4 years (Ref. 72497)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 48-53; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 9 - 12; Vertebrae: 24

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Usually found in the upper layers of warm water above the thermocline, but also capable of descending to rather deep water. Often migrate into near-shore waters. Occasionally form schools or smaller groups of 3 to 30 individuals, but often occur in loose aggregations over a wide area. Feed mainly on small pelagic fishes but also takes bottom-dwelling organisms. Females grow larger (Ref. 4770). Utilized fresh, canned and frozen; eaten steamed (Ref. 9987).

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

Around Florida in USA, this species often moves inshore into shallow waters where females, swimming sluggishly with their dorsal fins extended and accompanied each by one or more males, may spawn near the surface in the warm season. However, spawning in offshore waters beyond the 100 fathom isobath was also reported from south of Cuba to Carolina, USA. Off southeast Florida, a 33.4 kg female may shed up to 4.8 million eggs in three batches during one spawning season.

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)


CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: 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
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
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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 | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 16.3 - 27.4, mean 23.5 °C (based on 431 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.7505   [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):  4.5   ±0.4 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 5.4 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.29-1.2 (?); tm=3.5).
Prior r = 0.24, 95% CL = 0.16 - 0.36, Based on 1 stock assessment.
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (60 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref. 125649):  Moderate vulnerability (42 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   High.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 27.7 [13.8, 44.3] mg/100g; Iron = 0.872 [0.523, 1.431] mg/100g; Protein = 19.5 [18.4, 20.6] %; Omega3 = 0.212 [0.117, 0.376] g/100g; Selenium = 43.5 [23.2, 80.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 6.84 [2.30, 19.89] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.373 [0.265, 0.532] mg/100g (wet weight);