FISHES OF THE GULF OF MAINE 



353 



of swordfish on halibut lines set near bottom as 

 deep as 200 fathoms, together with the fact that 

 swordfish are by no means rare on the Newfound- 

 land Banks, whence several fish were brought back 

 by the American cod fleet in 1920, proves that 

 temperatures as low as 50° to 55° do not bar it, 

 at least for a brief stay. 



Although swordfish may gather in certain 

 localities they do not school, but are always seen 

 scattered, either singly or at most two fish swim- 

 ming together. Earlier published accounts, state- 

 ments by fishermen, and our own rather limited 

 experience all agree on this point. On calm days 

 they often lie quiet on the surface, or loaf along 

 with both the high first dorsal fin and the tip of 

 the caudal fin above water, and they are easily 

 harpooned while so employed, often allowing a 

 vessel to approach until the pulpit projecting from 

 her bow comes directly above the fish. When a 

 swordfish is swimming at the surface, its first dorsal 

 fin and the upper part of its tail fin both show 

 above the water whereas a marlin shows its caudal 

 only. One can tell a surfacing swordfish from a 

 shark by its sharp-pointed dorsal (that of a shark 

 is more broadly triangular) and by the fact that 

 its tail fin seems to cut the water in a direct line, 

 not wobbling from side to side as the tips of the 

 tails of most sharks do (other than the mackerel 

 shark tribe), if they show above the water at all. 



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. We saw 

 one leap clear of the water four or five times in 

 rapid succession close to the Grampus, oft* Shel- 

 burne, Nova Scotia, on July 28, 1914. Reports 

 by fishermen, and our own experience, are to the 

 effect that they surface only during the hours of 

 daylight. 



The swordfish is a fish-eater. During its stay 

 in American waters it feeds on mackerel, men- 

 haden, bluefish, silver hake, butterfish, herring, 

 argen tines, rattails (Macrourus bairdii), 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 

 (genus perhaps Architeuthis) , taken from the 

 stomach of a swordfish harpooned on the northern 

 edge of Georges Bank, 65 was an especially interest- 

 ing find. One that we examined on Georges Bank, 



» Rich, Proc. Portland Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, pt. 2, 1947, p. 23. 

 210941—53—24 



July 24, 1916, was full of silver hake, one taken 

 there in August 1929 contained 5 large haddock 

 (p. 199), while another harpooned off Halifax con- 

 tained a squid (Ilex) and fragments of silver hake. 

 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. And 

 we have seen them so employed on more than one 

 occasion, to judge from the commotion. 



It is not unusual for swordfish taken on the 

 offshore banks to contain deep-sea fishes of one 

 kind or another in their stomachs; many such 

 instances have been recorded, 56 sometimes swal- 

 lowed so recently that they are still in good condi- 

 tion when the swordfish is opened. 67 And since 

 these so-called "black fishes" live outside the edge 

 of the continent, mostly below 150 fathoms, this 

 is good evidence that the swordfish found on the 

 banks that front our Gulf do some of their foraging 

 at considerable depths farther out at sea. It also 

 seems that they sometimes strip lines set for hali- 

 but and tilefish of the fish already caught, for 

 they are sometimes brought up tangled in the 

 line. 



It was not out of the ordinary for swordfish to 

 be hooked on long lines set for halibut in the days 

 when this fishery flourished (p. 255). Goode M 

 cites a number of cases, including one when 13 

 swordfish were caught in this way on one halibut 

 trip. And fishermen have told us of more recent 

 instances. Swordfish have often been hooked and 

 landed on hand lines, also. A case is on record 

 of 7 taken in this way on one trip, in the South 

 Channel, in 15 to 25 fathoms of water, the bait 

 being whole mackerel; evidence that swordfish 

 seemingly do not insist on live food. We also read 

 that of old, fishermen from Marthas Vineyard and 

 Nantucket sometimes took them while trolling 

 with some sort of silvery fish as bait, forecasting 

 the big game anglers of today. 



Many tales are current of swordfish attackmg 

 slow moving vessels without any provocation, and 

 driving their swords through the planking, either 



» The late Wal'er H. Rich of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries reports the 

 following genera as taken from swordfish on Georges and Browns Banks; 

 A'episaurus, ChauJiodus, Chiasmodon, Lampadena, Macrostoma, Myctophum t 

 Notoscopelus, and Stomiaa. 



" Kingsley (Science, N. Ser., vol. 56, 1922, pp. 225-226) reports two freshly 

 swallowed stomiatids (Echiostomi barbatum) being taken from the stomach of 

 a swordfish harpooned on the offshore slope of Georges Bank. 



» Kept. U. S. Comm. Fish., (1880) 1883, pp. 353-354. 



