Roundscale spearfish

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Roundscale spearfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Istiophoridae
Genus: Tetrapturus
Species: T. georgii
Binomial name
Tetrapturus georgii
Philippi, 1887

Roundscale spearfish (Tetrapturus georgii) is a Tetrapturus which lives in the Atlantic. Many fish believed to be white marlins might have been roundscale spearfish, which bear a close resemblance to the white marlin. And that raises concerns about the remaining numbers of the threatened white marlin species.

A team of university and government scientists has confirmed the existence of the enigmatic billfish species closely resembling the heavily fished, overexploited white marlin.

That brings into doubt the future of the threatened white marlin, as recent population assessments might have been overestimated since the species is virtually indistinguishable from the previously unrecognized roundscale spearfish.

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