Average adult size: Adults can grow to be more than 13 feet long and 350 pounds. The world record weight is 573 pounds.

Natural history: Striped marlin become sexually mature at 4 1/2 to 5 feet long. The females produce between 11 million and 29 million eggs during the spawning season of July and August, in the waters off Mexico. They are a popular sport fish, taken by fishermen off Cabo San Lucas, Baja, Mexico. Striped marlin feed on tunas, jacks, sardines, anchovies and squids. They use their "sword-like" bill to slash and stun their prey before eating it.

Range: From Chile to Point Conception, California.