Xiphias gladius
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Xiphiidae (Swordfishes)
Xiphias
Xiphias gladius (Swordfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
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Characters
High and short first dorsal fin; lacks pelvic fins; body tapers slightly from origin of first dorsal fin; elongated rostrum flattened in cross section; relatively large and laterally located eye; maxilla partially covered by lachrymal bone; lower jaw elongated but less than half of upper jaw length; jaw teeth absent in adults; pectoral fin falcate, narrow, and acutely pointed with 16 to 18 rays; first dorsal fin with 34 to 49 rays; second dorsal fin very small with 4 to 6 rays; first anal fin falcate with 13 or 14 rays; second anal fin very small with 3 or 4 rays; caudal peduncle slender with a large lateral keel and deep notches dorsally and ventrally; caudal fin large and semi-lunate; anus located anterior to first anal fin origin; body naked in adults but with spine-like scales in juveniles to 100 cm TL; lateral line present in juveniles to about 100 cm TL but absent in larger specimens; vertebrae number 26: 15 or 16 precaudal and 10 or 11 caudal; gas bladder consists of a single chamber.
Distribution
Western Atlantic from Newfoundland, the Grand Banks, and Bermuda to southern Brazil, including the oceanic section of the Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Tropical to warm temperate oceanic seas; found from the surface to 630 m in waters above 13°C, usually between 18°C and 22°C.
Biology
Pelagic squids and ray-finned fishes, including clupeids, engraulids, Alepisaurus spp., Coryphaena spp., Sphyraena spp., scombrids, Thunnus spp., and Gempylus sp.; adults also feed on benthic fishes such as macrourids, physids, scorpaenids, and trichiurids.
Maximum known size is 450 cm TL.
Oceanic but sometimes found in coastal waters (Ref. 9354). Generally above the thermocline (Ref. 9354), preferring temperatures of 18°C to 22°C (Ref. 9987). Larvae are frequently encountered at temperatures above 24 °C (Ref. 9702). Migrate toward temperate or cold waters in the summer and back to warm waters in the fall. Adults are opportunistic feeders, known to forage for their food from the surface to the bottom over a wide depth range (Ref. 9702). Feed mainly on fishes (Atlantic mackerel, barracudinas, silver hake, redfish, herring and lanternfishes (Ref. 5951); also on crustaceans and squids (Ref. 9354). They use their sword to kill their prey (Ref. 9354). Large individuals may accumulate large percentages of mercury in its flesh (Ref. 9354). Are batch spawners (Ref. 51846). Spawning takes place in Atlantic during spring in southern Sargasso Sea. Migrate to cooler waters to feed (Ref. 4689). Females grow fastest. Determination of age is difficult since the otoliths are very small and scales are missing in adults. Year rings have been successfully counted on cross sections of the fin rays (Ref. 35388). Pelagic eggs measure 1.6-1.8mm and the newly hatched larvae is 4 mm long. Sword is well developed at a length of 10mm and young live pelagically in the upper water layers where they quickly develop into very voracious predators (Ref. 35388). Mt DNA restriction analysis reveal that genetic differentiation occurs between populations inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea and the tropical Atlantic ocean, indicating little genetic exchange occurring between the two (Ref. 12784). Good food fish, marketed fresh or frozen, and can be made into sashimi, teriyaki or fillets (Ref. 9354).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. In the Atlantic Ocean, spawning occurs in the upper water layer at depths between 0 and 75 m, at temperatures around 23°C, and salinity of 33.8 to 37.4 ppt.
The distribution of larval broadbill swordfish in the Pacific Ocean indicates that spawning occurs mainly in waters with a temperature of 24°C or more. Spawning appears to occur in all seasons in equatorial waters, but is restricted to spring and summer at higher latitudes (Ref. 30448).
Fertilisation in broadbill swordfish is external and pairing of solitary males and females is thought to occur when spawning (Ref. 9742). Broadbill swordfish are reported to spawn in the upper layers of the water column, from the surface to a depth of 75 m (Ref. 43).
Estimates of egg numbers vary considerably, from 1 million to 16 million in 168,000 g female (Ref. 9742) and 29 million in a 272,000 g female (Ref. 30372).
IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened (NT), assessed 2021-05-01. Resilience: Medium (rm=0.076; K=0.23; tm=5-6; tmax=9).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.
References
Arata 1954
Arnold 1955
Eschmeyer 1963
Nakamura 1985
Nakamura 1986d
Nakamura 2002a
Heemstra 1986o
Robins and Ray 1986
Scott and Scott 1988
Boschung 1992
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Nakamura, I. (1985) FAO species catalogue. Vol. 5. Billfishes of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of marlins, sailfishes, spearfishes and swordfishes known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(5):65p. Rome: FAO.
Collette, B.B. (1981) Xiphiidae. In W. Fischer, G. Bianchi and W.B. Scott (eds.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Eastern Central Atlantic (Fishing Areas 34, 47 (in part)). Volume 4. Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and FAO, Rome.
IGFA (2001) Database of IGFA angling records until 2001. IGFA, Fort Lauderdale, USA.
Sabatié, R., M. Potier, C. Broudin, B. Seret, F. Ménard and F. Marsac (2003) Preliminary analysis of some pelagic fish diet in the eastern Central Atlantic. Col. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT, 55(1):292-302.
Patzner, R.A. (2008) Reproductive strategies of fish. pp. 311-350. In Rocha, M.J., A. Arukwe and B.G. Kapoor (eds). Fish reproduction: cytology, biology and ecology. Science Publisher, Inc. Oxford. 631 p.
Collette, B.B., A. Di Natale, W. Fox, J. Graves, M. Juan Jorda, B. Pohlot, V. Restrepo and J. Schratwieser (2011) Xiphias gladius. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T23148A88828055. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T23148A9422329.en
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