Broadbill Swordfish

Fact File: Common Name(s): Broadbill Swordfish Scientific Name: Xiphias gladius (Linnaeus, 1758) Usual Size: Believed to 445cm UK Record Weights from rod/line: Shore: Boat: MAFF Minimum Size: Shore: Boat:

Identification: The upper and sides of the body dark brown fading to light brown under side. The only Billfish with a rigid dorsal fin. Breeding: Egg dispersal. Females may lay between 2/5 million eggs and the main breeding area for the Eastern Atlantic is the Mediterranean Sea. It is believed that a female is mature at the age of 5-6 and this equates to a length of between 150-170cm Habitat: A semi oceanic species which is located in the upper water layers and has an optimum temperature range of between 18/22ºC, but is known to tolerate a sea temperature of between 5/27ºC. They are known to go to depths of at least 550m Food: Tunas and other pelagic fishes when in open waters and when further inshore they will take Mackerel, Herring and Hake Range: For the Eastern Atlantic from the north of Scotland down to the Cape of Good Hope. Additional Notes: A truly powerful angling adversary, mostly found in oceanic waters off the western coasts REFERENCES: FAO Species Catalogue - Vol V - Billfishes of The World - Nakamura Fishes of the North-Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean - Whitehead, Bauchot, Hureau, Nielsen, Tortonese Key to the Fishes of Northern Europe - Wheeler

GuestBook / MessageBoards @ http://ukfishid.proboards84.com/index.cgi

 Return to the