Swordfish Kingdom:Animalia Phylum:Chordata Class:Actinopterygii Order:Perciformes Family:Xiphiidae Genus:Xiphias Species:gladius By John Doe January 19, 2007

Swordfish’s Anatomy

Swordfish’s Anatomy Description: The swordfish’s color is black, grayish blue, brown, metallic purple, or bronze. Swordfish are large and characterized by a long, flat bill in contrast to the smooth, round bill of the marlins. The sides are dusky and the underbelly is white. Swordfish are elongate, round-bodied, and lack teeth and scales as adults. A sword fish has the following inherited traits: 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 Size: once averaged 200 pounds but over harvest has reduced size of commercially caught swordfish to average of 48 inches. They reach a maximum size of 14 ft (4.3 m) and 1,190 lb (540 kg).

Swordfish’s Anatomy *Interesting Fact While swordfish are cold-blooded animals, they have special organs next to their eyes to heat their eyes and also their brain. Temperatures of 10 to 15 C° above the surrounding water temperature have been measured because of this special organs. The heating of the eyes improves the sight, and improves their ability to catch prey.

Swordfish’s Ecosystem Habitat: Swordfish are distributed throughout the world's marine ecosystem, in tropical, subtropical and temperate waters. 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.

Swordfish’s Ecosystem Niche: Consumer: Carnivore Predator: The mako shark is one of the rare sea creatures big enough and fast enough to chase down and kill an adult swordfish. Prey: The swordfish is a fish-eater. During its stay in American waters it feeds on mackerel, menhaden, bluefish, silver hake, butterfish, herring, argentines, rattails, and indeed on any smaller fish, buckets of which have been taken from swordfish stomachs. Squid, too, are often found in them and may be their chief diet at times. And the jaws of one of the giant squids, taken from the stomach.

Life cycle of Swordfish Incomplete Metamorphosis

Food Chain decomposer bluefish Menhaden mako shark mackerel

Learned & Inherited Behaviors Learned Behavior: Although swordfish may gather in certain localities they do not school, but are always seen scattered, either singly or at most two fish swimming together. Learned Behavior: When swordfish are at the surface, they jump a good deal, perhaps in vain attempts to shake off the remoras that so often cling to them. Inherited Behavior: They have often been described as rising through schools of mackerel, menhaden, and other fishes, striking right and left with their swords, then turning to gobble the dead or mangled fish. Inherited Behavior: The swordfish is a migratory animal.