Author: Robins and de Sylva, 1963
Tetrapturus pfluegeri Robins and de Sylva, 1963
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Tetrapturus pfluegeri Robins and de Sylva, 1963 (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: body moderately slender, bill long, rather slender and round in cross-section, nape rising smoothly to dorsal fin origin. Pectoral fins long, much greater than post-orbital part of head; pelvic fins a little longer, with moderately developed membrane; anterior lobe of first dorsal fin not sharply pointed, its height a little more than body depth. remainder of fin about equal to body depth, with 44-50 finrays, second dorsal fin with 6-7 finrays; first anal fin with 12-17 finrays, second with 6-7 finrays; anus well in front of first anal fin origin (by more than half the height of that fin). Scales on midbody rough and elongate. densely embedded, with several posterior spines. Colour: back blue black, flanks and belly silvery. Size: to about 2.5 m TL.
Habitat: epipelagic, oceanic, usually above thermocline, chiefly in offshore waters. Food: small- and medium-sized fishes and cephalopods in surface layers. Reproduction: late November to early May, with peak perhaps in late winter; females probably spawn once a year.
Distribution: southern part of area, Madeira and northward almost t southern Portugal; elsewhere, tropical, subtropical and sometime temperate waters of eastern and western Atlantic.