Swordfish (Xiphias gladius)
| Description: color of back variable, black, grayish blue,
brown, metallic purple, or bronze; sides dusky; underbelly dirty white; long, flat,
sword-like upper jaw; lacks scales, teeth, and pelvic fins; single keel on each side of
body in front of tail; first dorsal fin high, rigid and short; large eyes.
Similar
fish: no close resemblance to other billfishes. |
 |
| Where found: OFFSHORE species worldwide in
temperate and tropic waters; known to frequent depths of 400 to 500 fathoms; also has been
seen basking at the surface.
Size: once averaged 200 pounds, but
overharvest has reduced size of commercially caught swordfish to average of 48 inches. |
Remarks: large swordfish are all females, males
seldom exceeding 200 pounds; except when spawning, females believed to prefer water cooler
than that favored by males; feeds on squid, octopus, and pelagic fishes of all kinds.
Florida
record 612 lbs., 12 ozs. |
