Swordfish

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Swordfish

• KingdomAnimalia
• PhylumChordata
• ClassActinopterygii
• OrderPerciformes
• FamilyXiphiidae
• GenusXiphias
• Speciesgladius

By John Doe January 19, 2007
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Swordfishs Anatomy
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Swordfishs Anatomy

• Description The swordfishs 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).

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Swordfishs 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.

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Swordfishs Ecosystem

• 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.

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Swordfishs 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.

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Life cycle of Swordfish
Incomplete Metamorphosis
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Food Chain
decomposer
bluefish
Menhaden
mako shark
mackerel
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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.

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