7o Xiphias stadias Linnaeus 



In Japanese tsun^ kajikitoshij shutome, or mekajiki 



Figure 23o --Broadbill swordfish 



The first dorsal fin has 38 to 40 rays^ the 3 most anterior 

 being spines,, the following 9 rays with branched tips, and the 

 remaining posterior rays are all spineso The second dorsal fin has 

 4 soft rayso The first anal has 2 spines and 7 soft rays,. The second 

 anal fin has 4 soft raySo 



Body length is lo8 times the head lengthy 5o2 times greatest 

 body depths about 6 times the depth of the body at the insertion of 

 the first dorsal fin, and lo4 times the head length excluding the 

 snouto The head length excluding the snout is 3^7 times the eye dia- 

 metero The interorbital space is about twice the eye diameter and 

 the distance between the eye and the insertion of the first dorsal fin 

 is about 3,4 times the eye diametero The greatest body depth is 7 to 

 7,5 times the depth of the caudal peduncle^, and lc3 times the length 

 of the pectoral finso The length ratio of the upper to the lower jaw 

 is about 3o 8o 



The body is elongatedj but there is hardly any lateral compres- 

 siono The profile of the dorsal surface anterior to the insertion of 

 the first dorsal fin does not project as conspicuously as in the fishes 

 of the family Istiophoridaeo There is one large keel on each side of 

 the caudal peduncleo For this reason, when the caudal peduncle is 

 viewed from abovep it appears conspicuously flattenedo In the juvenile 

 stages the fish has bony scales which disappear in adult specimensp 

 however, the skin in the pectoral region is coarse and has the feel of 

 shark skino 



The height of the first dorsal fin is roughly equal to the 

 greatest body deptho Posterior to the fifth dorsal ray^, the height of 

 the fin decreases rapidly, and from about the vicinity of the 20th ray 

 posteriorly, the fin rays hardly project above the surface of the bodyo 

 The second dorsal fin is well separated from the first dorsal finj and 

 is composed of 4 small, soft rayso The pectoral fins are placed low 

 and are rather short, being Go 8 times the greatest body deptho Ventral 

 fins are p.on=exi stent. The first anal fin is of moderate sizeo The 

 second anal fin and the second dorsal fin are roughly the same shape 

 and sizeo Both the upper and lower lobes of the caudal fins are narrow 

 and broadly forked^, however, the angle formed bj'- them is smaller than 

 in the case of the Istiophoridaeo 



The upper jaw is remarkably long, being more than 7/lO the length 

 of the remainder of the bodyo It has the form of a two-edged sword 

 blade, and is hollow with occasional septao The lower jaw is short and 

 rather slender, and there is no predentary bone„ The vertebral count 



67 



