Swordfish
Xiphias gladius
A deep-water predator that hunts by day at 500 metres and rises after dark. Warm-blooded eyes let it see in near-total darkness, and no billfish fights harder or deeper.
Also known as: Broadbill
World record
Louis Marron · Iquique, Chile · 1953
Overview
- Scientific name
- Xiphias gladius
- Family
- Xiphiidae
- Max length
- 14' 11"
- Typical length
- 9' 10"
- Max weight
- 1,433 lb
- Depth range
- 0–800 m
- Conservation status
- Least concern
- Difficulty
- Expert
- Fight
- Table quality
How to catch it
Daytime deep-dropping squid at 400–600 m with an electric or heavy conventional reel, or drifting baits at night on the shelf edge.
How big does it get?
What turns up on an ordinary day, and what a very good one looks like. Almost nobody catches a maximum-size fish — this is the honest spread.
1.8 m angler
Character
What this fish is actually like to catch.
Where it lives
Its band in the water column, against the ocean's real depth zones.
When to fish for it
Relative catch activity through the year, northern hemisphere.
Distribution
Trophy Score of all :n logged catches of this species. A score means nothing until you can see the population behind it.
Top catches on FishRankings
The heaviest of this species recorded by our community.
Nobody has logged one yet. Claim the top spot.
Log a catch4 Related species
| Species | Species | Worth | Max length | World record | Depth zone | Fight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bigeye Tuna Thunnus obesus | 284 | 8' 2" | 435 lb | Twilight zone Saltwater | Vulnerable | |
| Opah Lampris guttatus | 257 | 6' 7" | 161 lb | Twilight zone Saltwater | ||
| Humboldt Squid Dosidicus gigas | 250 | 4' 11" | 110 lb | Twilight zone Saltwater | Data deficient | |
| Atlantic Pomfret Brama brama | 191 | 3' 3" | 15 lb 0 oz | Twilight zone Saltwater |
"Worth" is what a catch of that species is worth before any of your own skill counts — higher means harder to find and harder to beat.