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 pounds
Remarks: large swordfish are all females, males seldom exceed
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