Blue Marlin

Blue marlin are among the fastest fish in the ocean, reaching bursts of 50 mph while wielding a bill that can reach 20% of body length. Like sailfish, they use their bill to slash through schools of fish, stunning or injuring prey before circling back to eat the disabled victims. The bill isn't a spear for impaling - it's a sword for slashing. Multiple marlin sometimes coordinate attacks, taking turns driving through bait balls while others collect casualties.

The bill-slashing technique represents a specialized adaptation for overwhelming prey defense. Fish schools protect individuals through confusion - predators can't focus on single targets. The marlin's bill doesn't need to focus; it damages anything in its path. By converting the school's defense (numbers) into vulnerability (density), the bill makes prey concentration a liability. Tighter schools mean more casualties per slash.

For business, marlin represent strategies that convert competitor strengths into vulnerabilities. When competitors cluster (around pricing norms, feature sets, or market positions), a disruptive move that affects the entire cluster can damage many competitors simultaneously. The bill slash doesn't need to target precisely - it exploits the clustering. Companies that position themselves near competitors for comparison shopping may find themselves vulnerable to marlin-style disruption that hits the entire cluster.