210 



The Life Story of the Fish 



The broadbill swordfish rejoices in the merry name of 

 Xi^hias gladius. Xifhias means "sword" in Greek, gladius 

 means "sword" in Latin. The scientist who labeled it was 

 evidently impressed with the fact that it has a sword. This is 

 a flat, sharp-edged projection of the upper jaw which may 



Figure 26. SWORDFISH, YOUNG (much enlarged) AND 

 ADULT (much reduced). 



After Ch. Liitken. 



The little creature at the top of. this figure was first thought to be the 

 young of the sailfish, but was later classed as a swordfish. The matter is 

 not yet completely settled, but in either case the young has no sword, the 

 adult has. 



reach a length of five to six feet, and the fish has been known 

 to attain a length of fifteen feet overall and a weight of one 

 thousand pounds. Like the tuna, it roams throughout the 

 world, avoiding only the regions where the water is really 

 cold. It feeds on schooling fish such as menhaden, mackerel, 

 even bonito, and is said to strike right and left with its 

 sword in a school until it has incapacitated several of its prey, 

 which it then eats. The larger sharks are its natural enemies. 

 Like the sharks, it often carries remoras, those small fish 

 which use the suctorial disks on the tops of their heads to 



