Swordfish. Description

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

Swordfish today is considered the only representative of the swordfish family. This animal got its name due to the peculiar shape of the upper jaw. Usually an adult swordfish, a photo of which can be easily found on the Internet, can reach a length of more than four meters, and its weight fluctuates around half a ton. Animals live in tropical and subtropical waters, sometimes they can be found in the Black and Azov Seas. Individuals appear in moderately warm waters during the period of forage migration. So, at this time, fish can be found in the waters of Iceland, not far from Newfoundland. Animals are also appearing in the North Sea.

Swordfish has an elongated upper jaw, powerful lateral keels on the tail. The body of the animal is devoid of scales. All this in combination allows it to develop a sufficiently high speed - up to one hundred and thirty kilometers per hour. The swordfish has no ventral fins, and its tail resembles a crescent in shape. Adult representatives are almost completely missing teeth, but young animals have jaw teeth. They have reticulate plates as gill filaments.

The spear-shaped upper jaw deserves special attention. This part makes up about a third of the entire length of the body. With the help of its upper jaw, the fishthe sword strikes its prey: it cuts it in half. This is evidenced by the bodies of squid and fish found in her stomach.

Swordfish looks like a sailboat slave. Despite almost the same size and external data, they belong to different families.

Resemblance can be seen in the photo.

Swordfish lives in waters with a fairly wide temperature range. During fattening, representatives of the family are not too demanding on warm waters; they are often found in water areas with a temperature of about twelve degrees. During the spawning period, the situation changes dramatically. Swordfish spawn exclusively in tropical waters where the temperature is over twenty-three degrees.

Animals have a fairly high fertility. A small female can lay quite a lot of eggs - more than fifteen million. From relatively large larvae appear, which are distinguished by a relatively short jaw, and when the larva reaches a length of eight millimeters, it takes the form of a spear. Compared to adults, which have neither teeth nor scales, fry have coarse scales with small spines, as well as jaw teeth. Puberty occurs around the fifth or sixth year of life.

The nutrition of the larvae depends on their age. At the very beginning of their development, they make do with zooplankton. When their length reaches a centimeter, they move on to small fish. During the first year of life, fish individuals reach about fiftycentimeters. By the third year, their length often becomes more than a meter. Adults also feed on small fish that inhabit near-surface waters. The diet also includes large predators, such as tuna. In rare cases, swordfish can even attack a shark.