Highly migratory large pelagic fish

Functional group 6: Swordfish
A single-species group, the swordfish (Xiphias gladius) is an highly migratory species with the stock range covering the entire north Atlantic and adjoining waters.

Functional group 7: Other billfish
With the exception of black marlin, all the species in this group are highly migratory with stock areas covering half or more of the Atlantic Ocean and adjoining waters.

Note: Black marlin are only known as strays into the Atlantic however they were included in the group for purposes of estimating diet composition of billfish overall.

Functional groups 8-11: Highly migratory tunas
These four functional groups each consist of one species of tuna. All are highly migratory with stock areas covering half or more of the Atlantic Ocean and adjoining waters.

Regional large pelagic fish

The regional large pelagic functional groups are all ones for which the stock area is believed to be relatively localized i.e. limited to the Lesser Antilles or at most the Wider Caribbean.

Functional group 12: Blackfin tuna
The single species group blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus) is a small tuna prevalent in the southern parts of the LAPE area.

Functional group 13: Other offshore predators
This group includes several species of small tunas as well as pelagic triggerfish.

Functional group 17: Pelagic sharks
A large number of pelagic shark species are known to occur in the LAPE area however there are few fisheries or other sources of detailed information. The following species are examples for which fishery and/or diet data were available.