198 ACANTHOPTERYGII. 



Family, XIII— XIPBIWM, Agass, 



Sword-fish. 



Branchiostegals seven : pseudobranchiae. Eyes lateral. Body compressed, the upper jaws (comprising 

 ethmoid, vomer, and premaxillaries) produced into a long, sword-shaped process: cleft of mouth deep 

 Teeth absent or rudimentary. One or two dorsal fins, without any distinct spinous portion : ventrals when 

 present, thoracic and rudimentary. Scales absent or in the form of rudimentary dermal productions. Air- 

 vessel present. Pyloric appendages, when present, numerous. 



The sword-fishes are well known to occasionally attack vessels in the Indian Ocean. " The ship, Royal 

 George of about 500 tons, experienced the dreadful hurricane in the Bay of Bengal. So furious was the tempest 

 that in addition to the loss of the main and mizzen masts the bowsprit was found broken off just outside the head of 

 the stern, its diameter was 23 inches : and on looking at the bottom, the snout or horn of an unicorn fish was 

 discovered projecting beyond the surface about 6 inches. A similar fact was remarked and the perforated piece of 

 wood presented to the A. S. of Bengal, as noticed in the Proceedings of December 26th, 1833."* In the Indian 

 Daily News (November, 1874), it is observed : " We have been shewn by the commander of the ship Cashmere 

 a piece of the sword of a sword-fish which must have attacked the ship on her course from Bombay to Calcutta. 

 Without any apparent cause the vessel began to make water, and all attempts to discover the cause were futile, 

 until, after the removal of a large part of the cargo, the lightened ship rose in the water and the cause was 

 discovered. The ship had been struck by a sword-fish, and the sword had pierced the copper and the timber of 

 the ship, and penetrated some nine or ten inches beyond, breaking off by the copper, probably from the 

 impossibility of withdrawing it. The sword not merely pierced the ship, but split the plank for a considerable 

 distance on each side of the point of contact. The Cashmere is a new ship, and the timber perfectly sound." 

 See also a paper by Dr. J. E. Gray, (An. and Mag. 1871, viii, pp. 338, 339), " On the injury inflicted on ships by 

 the Broad-finned sword-fish of the Indian Ocean." 



" The young of Xiphias, has a very long Belonc-like beak ; the supraorbital edge with conical prominences, 

 no occipital spine, and with two short pointed teeth at the angle of the preopercle. The young of Histiophoms 

 has the jaws comparatively shorter, the supraorbital edge very finely or not denticulated, a bony spine on each 

 side of the occiput and at the angle of the preopercle." — Giinther, Zool. Record, 1873, p. 110. 



Habitat. — From the Mediterranean throughout the tropical seas. 



SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. 



1. Histiophorus. Ventral fins present. Seas between the tropics, also in the Mediterranean. 



2. Xiphias. Destitute of ventral fins. Not as yet been found in the seas of India. 



Genus, 1 — Histiophoeus, Lacep. 



Notistium, Herm. : Tetrapturus, (Rafin.) Cuv. and Val. : Zanclurus, Swains. 



Branchiostegals, seven : pseudobranchiai. Body elongated. Upper jaw conical, much prolonged, and considerably 

 longer than the lower. Minute teeth on the jaivs and palatines : vomer edentulous. Two dorsal and two anal fins, 

 the anterior of each of which is the longer : ventrals in the form of one, two, or even three rays. Scales absent, 

 rudimentary dermal productions may be present. Air-vessel present. Pyloric appendages, when present, numerous. 



The height of the dorsal fin, in comparison with that of the body, appears to be much more considerable 

 in the young than in the adult. 



SYNOPSIS OP SPECIES. 



1. Histiophorus gladius. D. 40-50/7, A. 10/7. Dorsal fin much higher than the body. Dorsal fin 

 covered with brilliant blue spots. Tropical seas or their vicinity. 



2. Histiophorus imimaculatus. D. 47/7, A. 10-11/7. Dorsal fin much higher than the body. Gray, 

 dorsal blackish. Red Sea, and seas of India. 



3. Histiophorus brevirostris. D. 35/7, A. 11/7. Dorsal fin not so high as the body. Gray, dorsal and 

 pectoral tipped with black. Seas of India. 



1. Histiophorus gladius. 



Scomber gladius, Brouss. Mem. Acad. Sc. 1786, p. 454, pi. x; Bloch, t. 345. 

 Xiphias velifer, Bl. Schn. p. 93. 

 Istiophorus gladius, Lacep. iii, pp. 374, 375. 

 Xiphias ensis, Lacep. ii, p. 296. 



* Proc. As. Soc. of Bengal, iv, p. 411. 



