Animal Facts #4: Swordfish

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The swordfish is a large predatory fish characterized with a long, flat bill. Typically they reach 3 m (9.8 ft) in length, but the maximum reported is 4.55 m(14.9 ft) and 650 kg (1,430 lbs) in weight. They reach full maturity at 4-5 years, but the believed maximum age is 9 years. What makes this fish interesting is that they have a special organ next to their eyes to heat their brains and eyes. Doing this greatly improves their vision which will allow them to catch prey much easier. Of all 25,000+ fish species, only 22 are known to have this organ.

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Contrary to popular belief the sword fish does not use its bill to spear, but instead used to slash at its prey to injure or even kill the animal. It also relies on its great speed and agility to catch prey, they have been recorded at a speed of 97 km/h (60 mph) in the water. Swordfish feed daily but do most of the work during the night. "In the northwestern Atlantic, a survey based upon the stomach contents of 168 individuals found that 82% had eaten squid and 53% had eaten fish." (Wikipedia, Behavior and ecology). These fish swim in solitary most of the time, but when they are swimming together as much as 10 m (33 ft) is between the neighboring swordfish. Every so often boaters see a breaching swordfish, which is when they jump out of the water, they say this is a beautiful sight. This jumping may be a attempt to dislodge pests.

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These beautiful creatures are vicious fighters when hooked. They are known to dive rapidly when harpooned, sometimes even so quickly that they get their swords impaled into the sand on the ocean floor. These creatures have never attacked humans unprovoked, but they can become very dangerous when harpooned. They have taken down whole boats when hooked and in 2015 a Hawaiian fisherman was killed by a swordfish after attempting to spear the animal.

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This concludes today's day of animal facts. Every day I will try my best to make a post on a animal. Feel free to comment what animal to do for tomorrow and follow. Thanks for reading.