Swordfish

Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) are large, highly migratory, predatory fish characterized by a long, flat bill in contrast to the smooth, round bill of the marlins. Swordfish are elongate, round-bodied, and lack teeth and scales as adults. They reach a maximum size of 14 ft (4.3 m) and 1,190 lb (540 kg). The International Game Fish Association's all-tackle angling record is a 1,182 lb (536 kg) fish taken off Chile in 1953. They are the sole member of their family Xiphiidae. The swordfish is known as The Gladiator (gladius) because of the sharp, sword-like bill it wields as a weapon – to spear prey as well as for protection from its few natural predators. The mako shark is one of the rare sea creatures big enough and fast enough to chase down and kill an adult swordfish. Swordfish are distributed throughout the world's marine ecosystem, in tropical, subtropical and temperate waters, between approximately 45° north and 45° south[1]. They tend to concentrate where major ocean currents meet, and along temperature fronts. They inhabit the mixed surface waters where temperatures are greater than 15 °C but also can move and hunt in water as cool as 5 °C for short periods aided by specially adapted heat exchange organs which are able to increase the temperature of their brain and eyes by 10-15 °C. Areas of greater apparent abundance occur north of Hawaii along the North Pacific transition zone, along the west coasts of the U.S. and Mexico and in the western Pacific, east of Japan. Migration patterns have not been described although tag release and recapture data indicate an eastward movement from the central Pacific, north of Hawaii, toward the U.S. West Coast. Acoustic tracking indicates some diel movement from deeper depths during the daytime and moving into the mixed surface water at night. At times they appear to follow the deep scattering layer, and small prey, as they undertake these vertical movements.
Credits go to: Swordfishing Central