WoRMS taxon details

Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758

127094  (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:127094)

accepted
Species

Ordering

  • Alphabetically
  • By status

Children Display

marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. <em>Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae.</em> , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 248 [details]  Available for editors  PDF available [request] 
Description Occurs at a temperature range of 5° to 27°C, generally above the thermocline but may descend to depths of 800 m (Ref....  
Description Occurs at a temperature range of 5° to 27°C, generally above the thermocline but may descend to depths of 800 m (Ref. 9354), but prefers temperatures of 18°C to 22°C (Ref. 9987). Primarily a warm-water species. Although oceanic, sometimes found in coastal waters (Ref. 9354). Its migrations consist of movements toward temperate or cold waters for feeding in summer and back to warm waters in autumn for spawning and overwintering. Lives a solitary life upon the high seas. Larvae are frequently encountered at temperatures above 24 °C (Ref. 9702). Adults are opportunistic feeders, known to forage for their food from the surface to the bottom over a wide depth range (Ref. 9702). Uses its sword to kill its prey (Ref. 9354). Feeds mainly on fishes but also on crustaceans and squids (Ref. 9354). Also caught with harpoons, drift gill nets and set nets by commercial fisheries and by trolling in sports fishing (Ref. 9702). A good food fish, it is marketed fresh or frozen, and can be made into sashimi, teriyaki or fillets (Ref. 9354). Large individuals may accumulate large percentages of mercury in its flesh (Ref. 9354). [details]

Distribution Bonne Bay, over the Grand Bank along the offing of Cape Breton and in to the southern Gulf of St Lawrence and along the...  
Distribution Bonne Bay, over the Grand Bank along the offing of Cape Breton and in to the southern Gulf of St Lawrence and along the outer coast of Nova Scotia, southward along the coast of the United States; into Argentina in the South Atlantic [details]
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2024). FishBase. Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=127094 on 2024-03-19
Date
action
by
2004-12-21 15:54:05Z
created
2008-01-15 17:27:08Z
changed

Creative Commons License The webpage text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License


original description Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. <em>Editio decima, reformata [10th revised edition], vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae.</em> , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 248 [details]  Available for editors  PDF available [request] 

original description  (of Xiphias rondeletii Leach, 1814) Leach, W. E. ; Nodder, R. P. (1814). The zoological miscellany; being descriptions of new, or interesting animals. <em>The zoological miscellany.</em> E. Nodder & Son, London. v. 1-3: 1-144, 1-160, 1-151, 149 pls. [Pls. 1-50 (v. 1), 51-120 (v. 2), 121-149 (v. 3)].
page(s): 58, Pl. 2 (fig. 1) [details]   

original description  (of Xiphias imperator Bloch & Schneider, 1801) Bloch, M.E.; Schneider, J.G. (1801). M.E. Blochii, Systema Ichthyologiae iconibus cx illustratum. Post obitum auctoris opus inchoatum absolvit, correxit, interpolavit Jo. <em>Gottlob Schneider, Saxo. Berolini. Sumtibus Auctoris Impressum et Bibliopolio Sanderiano Commissum.</em> Pp i-lx + 1-584, Pls. 1-110., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/5750#/summary
page(s): 93, Pl. 21 [details]   

context source (Deepsea) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. The Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), available online at http://www.iobis.org/ [details]   

context source (Schelde) Maris, T.; Beauchard, O.; Van Damme, S.; Van den Bergh, E.; Wijnhoven, S.; Meire, P. (2013). Referentiematrices en Ecotoopoppervlaktes Annex bij de Evaluatiemethodiek Schelde-estuarium Studie naar “Ecotoopoppervlaktes en intactness index”. <em>Monitor Taskforce Publication Series, 2013-01. NIOZ: Yerseke.</em> 35 pp. (look up in IMIS[details]   

context source (Bermuda) Smith-Vaniz, W. F.; Collette, B. B.; Luckhurst, B. E (1999). Fishes of Bermuda: History, zoogeography, annotated checklist, and identification keys (American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists - Special Publication No.4) . ASIH, 424 pp. [details]   

context source (PeRMS) Chirichigno, N.; Cornejo, M. (2001). Catálogo comentado de los peces marinos del Perú. <em>2ª ed. Instituto del Mar de Perú. Publicación Especial. Callao.</em> 314 p. [details]   

basis of record van der Land, J.; Costello, M.J.; Zavodnik, D.; Santos, R.S.; Porteiro, F.M.; Bailly, N.; Eschmeyer, W.N.; Froese, R. (2001). Pisces, <B><I>in</I></B>: Costello, M.J. <i>et al.</i> (Ed.) (2001). <i>European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels,</i> 50: pp. 357-374 (look up in IMIS[details]   

additional source Scott, W.B.; Scott, M.G. (1988). Atlantic fishes of Canada. <em>Canadian Bulletin of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.</em> No. 219. 731 pp. [details]   

additional source Muller, Y. (2004). Faune et flore du littoral du Nord, du Pas-de-Calais et de la Belgique: inventaire. [Coastal fauna and flora of the Nord, Pas-de-Calais and Belgium: inventory]. <em>Commission Régionale de Biologie Région Nord Pas-de-Calais: France.</em> 307 pp., available online at http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/145561.pdf [details]   

additional source King, C.M.; Roberts, C.D.; Bell, B.D.; Fordyce, R.E.; Nicoll, R.S.; Worthy, T.H.; Paulin, C.D.; Hitchmough, R.A.; Keyes, I.W.; Baker, A.N.; Stewart, A.L.; Hiller, N.; McDowall, R.M.; Holdaway, R.N.; McPhee, R.P.; Schwarzhans, W.W.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Rust, S.; Macadie, I. (2009). Phylum Chordata: lancelets, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals. <em>in: Gordon, D.P. (Ed.) (2009). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: 1. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia.</em> pp. 431-554. [details]   

additional source McEachran, J. D. (2009). Fishes (Vertebrata: Pisces) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 1223–1316 in: Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas. [details]   

additional source Liu, J.Y. [Ruiyu] (ed.). (2008). Checklist of marine biota of China seas. <em>China Science Press.</em> 1267 pp. (look up in IMIS[details]  Available for editors  PDF available [request] 

additional source Fricke, R., Eschmeyer, W. N. & Van der Laan, R. (eds). (2024). ECoF. Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Genera, Species, References. <em>California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco.</em> Electronic version accessed dd mmm 2024., available online at http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/Ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp [details]   

additional source Froese, R. & D. Pauly (Editors). (2023). FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. version (02/2023)., available online at https://www.fishbase.org [details]   

ecology source Looby, A.; Erbe, C.; Bravo, S.; Cox, K.; Davies, H. L.; Di Iorio, L.; Jézéquel, Y.; Juanes, F.; Martin, C. W.; Mooney, T. A.; Radford, C.; Reynolds, L. K.; Rice, A. N.; Riera, A.; Rountree, R.; Spriel, B.; Stanley, J.; Vela, S.; Parsons, M. J. G. (2023). Global inventory of species categorized by known underwater sonifery. <em>Scientific Data.</em> 10(1). (look up in IMIS), available online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02745-4 [details]  OpenAccess publication 
 
 Present  Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio   Inaccurate  Introduced: alien  Containing type locality 
   

From other sources
Description Occurs at a temperature range of 5° to 27°C, generally above the thermocline but may descend to depths of 800 m (Ref. 9354), but prefers temperatures of 18°C to 22°C (Ref. 9987). Primarily a warm-water species. Although oceanic, sometimes found in coastal waters (Ref. 9354). Its migrations consist of movements toward temperate or cold waters for feeding in summer and back to warm waters in autumn for spawning and overwintering. Lives a solitary life upon the high seas. Larvae are frequently encountered at temperatures above 24 °C (Ref. 9702). Adults are opportunistic feeders, known to forage for their food from the surface to the bottom over a wide depth range (Ref. 9702). Uses its sword to kill its prey (Ref. 9354). Feeds mainly on fishes but also on crustaceans and squids (Ref. 9354). Also caught with harpoons, drift gill nets and set nets by commercial fisheries and by trolling in sports fishing (Ref. 9702). A good food fish, it is marketed fresh or frozen, and can be made into sashimi, teriyaki or fillets (Ref. 9354). Large individuals may accumulate large percentages of mercury in its flesh (Ref. 9354). [details]

Diet Feed mainly on fishes but also on crustaceans and squids  [details]

Distribution Bonne Bay, over the Grand Bank along the offing of Cape Breton and in to the southern Gulf of St Lawrence and along the outer coast of Nova Scotia, southward along the coast of the United States; into Argentina in the South Atlantic [details]

Habitat oceanic but sometimes found in coastal waters  [details]

Habitat nektonic [details]

Habitat Known from seamounts and knolls [details]

Importance Social- Commercial fishery and gamefish [details]

Reproduction Spawning takes place in Atlantic during spring in southern Sargasso Sea. [details]
LanguageName 
Basque ezpata-arrain  [details]
Catalan peix espasaemperador  [details]
Czech mečoun obecný  [details]
Danish svaerdfisk  [details]
Dutch zwaardvis  [details]
English swordfish suckerswordfish  [details]
Finnish miekkakala  [details]
French espadon  [details]
Galician peixe espada  [details]
German Schwertfisch  [details]
Hebrew דג החרב  [details]
Icelandic sverðfiskur  [details]
Italian pisci spadapesce spada  [details]
Japanese メカジキ  [details]
Lithuanian durklažuvė  [details]
Modern Greek (1453-) Ξιφίας  [details]
Norwegian sverdfisk  [details]
Norwegian Bokmål sverdfisk  [details]
Norwegian Nynorsk sverdfisk  [details]
Polish włócznikwlócznikryba mieczmiecznik  [details]
Portuguese espadarteagulha  [details]
Russian саблянкасабленкаМеч-рыбаmech-ryba  [details]
Scottish Gaelic colgán  [details]
Slovenian mečarica  [details]
Spanish pez espada  [details]
Swedish svärdfisk  [details]
Turkish kılıç balığıkilic baligi  [details]
Ukrainian Риба-меч звичайнаРиба-мечмеч-риба  [details]
Welsh pysgodyn cleddyf  [details]