FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
209 
of 5 feet; no individuals approaching that size, however, were seen in Chesapeake Bay. It was 
observed only during the month of May and from Mobjack Bay and Cape Charles city southward. 
Habitat . — All warm seas; on the Atlantic coast of America from Massachusetts Bay southward. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous record; Cape Charles city, Va. (6) Specimens in collec- 
tion: Mobjack Bay and Lynnhaven Roads, Va. 
Family LI. — XIPHIIDiE. The swordfishes 
Body elongate, compact; caudal peduncle slender, with strong median keel, upper jaw greatly 
produced, forming a sword, composed of the premaxillaries, ethmoid and vomer; lower jaw also 
prolonged in young; teeth wanting in adult, present in young; gills 4, the laminae of each united 
into a single plate; gill membranes separate, free from the isthmus; scales wanting; dorsal fins 
2 in adult (single, high, and contjnupus in young), the first beginning over gill opening, the second 
small, situated posteriorly; anal fins 2 in adult (single and continuous in young), the first rather 
large, the second small and opposite second dorsal; caudal fin large and broadly forked; pectorals 
long, narrow, pointed; ventrals absent; all the fins sharklike, the rays enveloped in skin; intestinal 
canal long; pyloric cseca numerous; air bladder present. A single genus and species, of large size 
and great power, is known. The young (as indicated in the foregoing description) differ very 
markedly from the adult. 
82. Genus XIPHIAS Linnaeus. Swordfishes 
The characters of the genus are included in the family description. 
108. Xiphias gladius Linnaeus. Swordfish. 
Xiphias gladius Linnseus, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1758, p. 248; Europe. Uhler and Lugger, 187C, ed. I, p. 108; ed. II, p. 90; Jordan 
and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 894. 
Head about 2.25; depth about 5.5; D. 40-4; A. 18-4. Body fusiform, tapering uniformly 
from head to tail, deepest at anterior dorsal fin; head, with sword, longer than rest of body; snout 
long, fiat, about 3 in total length, or about three times as long as rest of head; lower jaw in adult 
extending in advance of eye, a distance equal to half the length of postorbital part of head, much 
produced in young; first dorsal in adult very high, falcate, its height being as great as depth of body; 
second dorsal and second anal small, similar, placed nearly opposite each other; first anal similar to 
first dorsal, but smaller; c,audal lobes long; pectoral fins inserted very low. 
Color lustrous blue-black above, shading into whitish underneath; head and upper side of 
sword purplish blue; lower side of sword brownish purple; eye deep blue; fins mostly dark bluish. 
This species was not observed in Chesapeake Bay during the present investigation. The above 
description is compiled from published accounts. The swordfish was once reported by Uhler and 
Lugger (1876) as “sometimes entering Chesapeake Bay,” but it quite evidently is very rare there. 
The swordfish is readily distinguished from all other fish by the greatly produced snout, high 
dorsal, and large size. The young differ greatly from the adult and have the skin covered with 
rudimentary scales, both jaws produced, and the dorsal and anal fins are high and not divided. 
Swordfish feed upon many species of fish as well as upon squid. No ripe fish and very few bear- 
ing eggs have been found in the western Atlantic. The following records have been taken from the 
field notes of Marie Poland Fish, formerly of the Bureau of Fisheries: A 150-pound swordfish har- 
pooned off Coxs Ledge, about 20 miles southeast of No Mans Land, Mass., on July 24, 1924, con- 
tained a pair of ovaries weighing 1,430 grams, full of partially matured eggs. The number of ova 
were estimated at 16,130,400 and measured from 0.1 to 0.55 millimeter in diameter. The eggs of 
another fish, taken at Provincetown on September 10, 1909, were further developed and averaged 
1.2 millimeters in diameter. The smallest swordfish caught on our coast weighed 7jbg pounds and was 
taken on August 9, 1922, on Georges Bank. 19 Individuals under 50 pounds are rare. In the Medi- 
terranean, however, young of one-half pound and up are common. 
The swordfish is one of the largest and most powerful fish sought by man. It is a fish of the high 
seas, appearing on our North Atlantic coast near the end of May or some time in June, leaving in 
late October. It is most abundant during July and August. The favorite fishing grounds extend 
19 U. S. Bureau of Fisheries Service Bulletin No. 88, Sept. 1, 1922, p. 3. 
