A marine outboard motor is provided with a gear casing, a propeller shaft rotatable within the gear casing about a propeller shaft axis, a drive shaft having a drive gear, a clutch mechanism for selectively engaging the drive gear with the propeller shaft and a shift mechanism configured to operate the clutch mechanism. The shift mechanism comprises a support shaft which is fixed relative to the gear casing and which extends along or parallel with the propeller shaft axis, a shift shuttle which is slidable along the support shaft and is connected to a clutch member of the clutch mechanism, a shift finger pivotally mounted on the support shaft, and a shift rod coupled to the shift finger by a releasable coupling. The shift finger is configured to move the shift shuttle along the support shaft to operate the clutch member.