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Fish & Sharks

Dorado

Svendsen and colleagues estimate a dorado burst at 8.9 mph (4.0 m/s) from muscle data.

A dorado can swim about 8.9 mph (4 m/s), an estimate.

Also known as Coryphaena hippurus, dolphinfish, mahi-mahi
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Top speed

Published as 4 m/sPublished as 4 m/sPublished as 4 m/s

Svendsen et al. 2016, Biology Open. Muscle-contraction estimate for dorado, point value 8.9 mph (4.0 m/s), reported uncertainty ±2.0 mph (0.9 m/s). Not a logged swim.

EstimatedBiology Open (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 38% of Usain Bolt's 100 m world-record paceSourced · Usain Bolt, 100 m in 9.58 s. World Athletics, Berlin 2009. Averaged over the race
  • 14% of a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • A football field in 23 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Quick answers

People also ask

How fast can a dorado swim?

A dorado can swim about 8.9 mph (4 m/s), an estimate.

Is that figure claimed or verified?

Dorado is labeled Estimated. Calculated or approximated rather than directly timed.

What is the source?

The figure cites Biology Open, “Maximum swimming speeds of sailfish and three other large marine predatory fish species based on muscle contraction time and stride length: a myth revisited.”

Where does Dorado rank?

Dorado is 7th of 10 on Fastest Fish & Sharks.

Mechanism

Why it's so fast

Svendsen and colleagues estimate a dorado burst, Coryphaena hippurus, at about 8.9 mph (4.0 m/s) from muscle data. It is the slowest of the four estimates in that paper.

Species
Coryphaena hippurus
Estimate
8.9 mph (4.0 m/s)
Method
Muscle twitch

  1. The fourth estimate

    Sailfish 8.3, barracuda 6.2, little tunny 5.6 and dorado 8.9 mph (4.0 m/s) are one method applied to four species. The dorado is last. None of the four is a logged swim.

  2. Muscle, not a tag

    8.9 mph (4.0 m/s) is what the twitch calculation gave Coryphaena hippurus. Waller's tagged fish are a different paper. The page uses the estimate and does not replace it with a sport-fishing claim.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 14.4km/h8.9mph4m/s7.8knRanked figure

    Svendsen et al. 2016, Biology Open. Muscle-contraction estimate for dorado, point value 8.9 mph (4.0 m/s), reported uncertainty ±2.0 mph (0.9 m/s). Not a logged swim.

    8.9 mph (4.0 m/s) is the point estimate. ±2.0 mph (0.9 m/s) is the uncertainty.

    Estimated
    Biology Open (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Species
Coryphaena hippurus
Estimate
8.9 mph (4.0 m/s)
Method
Muscle twitch

Context

Background

The dorado point estimate in Svendsen and colleagues 2016 is 8.9 mph (4.0 m/s), uncertainty 2.0 mph (0.9 m/s). The figure is 8.9 mph (4.0 m/s), qualifier estimated. Like the sailfish cell, it comes from muscle-contraction data rather than a logged swim.

Logged bursts on this list can sort above or below that estimate. The number is still the muscle calculation, not a tag record.

Head to head

Compare Dorado

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Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.