168 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES EISH COMMISSION. 
arch joined into one plate by reticulations; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; gill-membranes separate, 
free from the isthmus; pseudobranchise present; branchiostegals 7; air-bladder present, simple, large; 
pyloric cceca very numerous; intestinal canal long, with many folds; vertebrae short, 14 -f- 12 = 26 in 
number, the neural and haemal spines normal; ribs very few. One species, an enormous fish of the 
open sea, rivaling the largest sharks in size and of immense strength of muscle. Very young or larval 
individuals differ much from the adults; the fins are high, both jaws are prolonged into a beak, and 
the head is armed with long spines. 
Genus 96. XIPHIAS Linnaeus. Swordfishes. 
Teeth and ventral fins lacking; body somewhat compressed; dorsal fins 2, the anterior beginning 
opposite the gill-openings, falcate and elevated, its height rather less than that of the body; second 
dorsal very small, on the tail, opposite the small second anal. In the young, teeth are present and 
the 2 dorsal fins are connected, the fin being elevated as in Istiophorus. First anal similar to first dor- 
sal, but smaller, less falcate, and far behind it; pectoral fins moderate, falcate; skin naked, more or 
less rough, especially in the young, which have rudimentary scales; sword flattened and trenchant; 
caudal keel single; intestines long, sinuous; air-bladder simple; pelvic arch obsolete. Fishes of great 
size, reaching a weight of 300 to 400 pounds, the flesh red and rich in flavor, highly valued as food. 
Xiphias Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., Ed. X, 248, 1758 (gladius). 
122. Xiphias gladius Linnaeus. Fig. 61. “A’u.” 
Head about 2.25 in length; depth about 5.5; snout 3 in length; D. 40-4; A. 18-14; vertebrae 
14-1-12; cleft of mouth extending beyond eye. Color dark metallic purplish above, dusky below; 
“sword” almost black above, below lighter; fins dark, with silvery sheen. 
Atlantic Ocean, on both coasts; most abundant between Cuba and Cape Breton; not rare off Cape 
Cod and the Newfoundland Banks; rather common in southern Europe; also found in the Pacific, 
occasionally taken about the Santa Barbara Islands, but not elsewhere recorded from the eastern 
Pacific. The object of extensive fisheries in the Atlantic. A single specimen was seen by us at Hilo. 
Others were seen by Mr. Snyder at Honolulu. 
Xiphias gladius Linnseus, Syst. Nat., Ed. X, 248, 1758, Europe (after Xiphias, of Artedi); Bloch, Ichthyologia, III, 23, pi. 76, 
1786; Cuvier & Valenciennes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., VIII, 255, 1831; Gunther, Cat., II, 511, 1860; Storer, Fishes Mass., 72, 
1853; Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis, 420, 1883; Snyder, Bull. U. S. Fish Comm., XXII, 1902 (Jan. 19, 1904), 523 
(Honolulu). 
Xiphias rondeleti Leach, in Wern. Mem., II, 58, pi. 2, fig. 1, 1818, Frith of Forth. 
Family LII1. SCOMBRIDJE. — The Mackerels. 
Body elongate, fusiform, not much compressed, covered with minute cycloid scales, the scales 
anteriorly sometimes forming a corselet; lateral line present, its course undulate; head pointed 
anteriorly, subconic; mouth rather large, with lateral cleft; premaxillary not protractile; maxillary 
without supplemental bone; jaws with sharp teeth, large or small; vomer and palatines toothed or 
not; preopercle entire; opercle unarmed; in the very young the preopercle is armed with radiating 
