Description: color of back
variable, black, greyish 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.
*Florida Record: 612
lbs., 12 ozs.
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.
* The Florida records
quoted are from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's
printed publication, Fishing
Lines and are not necessarily the most current ones. The records are
provided as only as a benchmark.
