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© Copyright Photographer/SFTEP, 2002 Xiphias gladius

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Overview

Main identification features sword flat;large eye d: curved, short base no pelvics Swordfish Bill extremely long, its cross section flat; no teeth in jaws; adults with a single median keel on each side of caudal fin base; a very tall, short-based first dorsal fin with a pointed apex; first dorsal rays 34-49; second dorsal and second anal fins very small, second dorsal rays 4-6; first anal fin moderately elevated, long, curved with 13-14 rays; second anal rays 3-4; pelvic fins absent; pectoral fins situated low on the sides, with 16-18 rays. Blackish brown on back fading to light brown or silvery on sides; first dorsal fin dark blackish brown; other fins brown or blackish brown. Maximum size 457cm; all-tackle world rcord 100.24 Kg. Habitat: pelagic, oceanic. Depth: 0-2878 m. Circumglobal in tropical, temperate, and adjacent cold seas; southern California to the mouth of the Gulf of California to Peru and the offshore islands. Attributes Abundance: Common. Cites: Not listed. Climate Zone: North Temperate (Californian Province &/or Northern Gulf of California); Northern Subtropical (Cortez Province + Sinaloan Gap); Northern Tropical (Mexican Province to Nicaragua + Revillagigedos); Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo); South Temperate (Peruvian Province ). Depth Range Max: 2878 m. Depth Range Min: 0 m. Diet: octopus/squid/cuttlefish; bony fishes; Pelagic crustacea. Eastern Pacific Range: Northern limit=50; Southern limit=-40; Western limit=-126; Eastern limit=-73; Latitudinal range=90; Longitudinal range=53. Egg Type: Pelagic; Pelagic larva. Feeding Group: Carnivore. FishBase Habitat: Pelagic. Global Endemism: Circumtropical ( Indian + Pacific + Atlantic Oceans); East Pacific + Atlantic (East +/or West); Transisthmian (East Pacific + Atlantic of Central America); East Pacific + all Atlantic (East+West); All Pacific (West + Central + East); TEP non-endemic; "Transpacific" (East + Central &/or West Pacific); All species. Habitat: Water column. Inshore Offshore: Offshore; Offshore Only. IUCN Red List: Data deficient; Listed. Length Max: 457 cm. Regional Endemism: Island (s); Continent; Continent + Island (s); Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic; Eastern Pacific non-endemic; All species. Residency: Resident. Salinity: Marine; Marine Only. Water Column Position: Mid Water; Near Surface; Surface; Water column only;

Names

Scientific source:       Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Links to other sites

Fishbase Catalog of Fishes Integrated Taxonomic Information System

References

Abbott, J.F., 1899., The marine fishes of Peru., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 51:324-364. Briggs, J.C., 1960., Fishes of worldwide (circumtropical) distribution., Copeia, 1960:171-180. Béarez, P., 1996., Lista de los Peces Marinos del Ecuador Continental., Revista de Biologia Tropical, 44:731-741. Castro-Aguirre, J.L. and Balart, E.F., 2002., La ictiofauna de las islas Revillagigedos y sus relaciones zoogeograficas, con comentarios acerca de su origen y evolucion. En: Lozano-Vilano, M. L. (Ed.). Libro Jubilar en Honor al Dr. Salvador Contreras Balderas., Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León:153-170. Chow , S. and Takeyama, H., 2000., Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analyses reveal four genetically separated breeding units of the swordfish., Journal of Fish Biology, 56:1087-1098. Eschmeyer , W. N. , Herald , E. S. and Hamman, H., 1983., A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja California. Peterson Field Guide Ser. 28., Houghton Mifflin:336pp. Findley, L.T., Hendrickx, M.E., Brusca, R.C., van der Heiden, A.M., Hastings, P.A., Torre, J., 2003., Diversidad de la Macrofauna Marina del Golfo de California, Mexico., CD-ROM versión 1.0. Projecto de la Macrofauna del Golfo .  Derechos reservados de los autores y Conservación Internacional. Fischer , W. , Krup , F. , Schneider , W. , Sommer , C. , Carpenter , K. E. and Niem, V. H., 1995., Guia FAO para la Identificacion de Especies de para los fines de la Pesca. Pacifico Centro-Oriental. Volumen III. Vertebrados - Parte 2., FAO3:1201-1813. Grove , J.S. and Lavenberg, R. J., 1997., The fishes of the Galápagos islands., Stanford University Press:863 pp. Hildebrand, S.F., 1946., A descriptive catalog of the shore fishes of Peru., Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., 189:1-530. Jimenez-Prado, P., Béarez, P., 2004., Peces marinos del Ecuador continental / Marine fishes of continental Ecuador., SIMBIOE/NAZCA/IFEA tomo 1 y 2. Joseph , J. , Klawe , W. and Murphy, P., 1988., Tuna and Billfish - fish without a country., Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission:69. Linnaeus, C., 1758., Systema Naturae, Ed. X. (Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.) Holmiae., Systema Nat. ed. 10, 1:1-824. Lopez , M. I. and Bussing, W. A., 1982., Lista provisional de los peces marinos de la Costa Rica., Revista de Biologia Tropical, 30(1):5-26. Love, M.S., Mecklenburg, C.W., Mecklenburg, T.A., Thorsteinson, L.K., 2005., es of the West Coast and Alaska: a checklist of North Pacific and Artic Ocena species from Baja California to the Alaska-Yukon border., U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, 288pp. Molina, L., Danulat, E., Oviedo, M., González, J.A., 2004., Guía de especies de interés pesquero en la Reserva Marina de Galápagos., Fundación Charles Darwin / Agencia Espeñola de Cooperación Internacional / Dirección Parque Nacional Galápagos, 115pp. Nakamura,., 1985., Billfishes of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of marlins, sailfishes, spearfishes and swordfishes known to date. FAO species catalogue Vol. 5., FAO Fish. Synop. No 125, 125. Reeb , C. A. , Arcangeli , L. and Block, B. A., 2000., Structure and migration corridors in Pacific populations of the swordfish Xiphius gladius, as inferred through analyses of mitochondrial DNA., Marine Biology, 136:1123-1131. Van der Heiden , A. M. and Findley, L. T., 1988., Lista de los peces marinos del sur de Sinaloa, México., Anales del Centro de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia de la Universidad Autonoma Nacional de Mexico, 15:209-224.

Acknowledgements

Ross Robertson, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute I thank Ashley MacDonald and John Pickering, University of Georgia, for technical support in building this page.