TRUE SWORDFISH

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3286, 4 March 1926, Page 15

TRUE SWORDFISH

PRESENCE EARLY RECALLED FIRST RECOGNISED IN 1574 In connection with the remarks ot Mr. Kane Grey regarding tho presence of the broadbill ,or true sword, lish in New Zealand waters, It Is in.cresting to note (that the presence of the tish here was actually recorded as early as 1574. i In that year a paper by Sir James , Hector appeared in the Transaction of tHe Now Zealand Institute on ;tho true swordfish. Xiphias Gladius. This was the second record of the presence of a member of tho tribe of sword- 1 fish or spearfish in Dominion waters, Sir James Hector having recognised tlie spearfish in ISC7. In his paper on Xiphias Gladius he states: “My attention was drawn to a snout of this species in the Auck. land Museum, which was obtained near Whangarei. Being In the district I found, on inquiring, that the swordfish was captured by the natives in Ngunguru Harbour, where it was soon swimming in shallow water with its dorsal fin high above tho surface. The snout only was preserved and given by the natives to Mr. McLeod, of Whangaret. by whom It was presented to the Auckland | Museum. I record this statement, ns this fish is mentioned only as an In- : habitant of the North Atlantic, but is frequently brought out to he colonies and presented to museums.” The snout referred to is still in the Auckland Museum, and may be distinguished at a glance from that ot the spearfish or marlin (Totrapterus) The bill of the true swordfish Is a formidable weapon, broad and flat like a sword ,and very substantial in appearance, while that of the spearfish is rounded and much more Blunder.

In the year following the appearance of Sir James Hector’s paper the late Mr. T. E. Checseman, who was curator of the Auckland Museum, contributed a paper giving additional evidence of the ocurrencc of jtho true swordfish and distinguishing between it and the spearfish. “Early last January,” ho stated, “an adult speclman of the true swordfish was stranded at Shelly Beach.” Mr. Cheescman took accurate measurements of this specimen. It total length was lift. Sin., and the length of its bill from the’tip to the cenjtro of the eye was 3ft. ll*in. The tip of the bill was missing, and he estimated that an allowance of an extra Sin. should be made in |the measurements for this fact, Mr. Cheeseman then refers to a paragraph which appeared in the “Southern Cross” Newspaper stating that a swordfish was on exhibition in Auckland, This proved to be a second specimen of the Xiphias Gladius. On inquiry he found tha)t It had been washed by a heavy gale into shallow water inside the mouth of the Waikato River. It was noticed by some sailors struggling among the breakers and was killed and taken to Auckland for exhibition. Its length was slightly less than that or the other specimen.

The spearfish, Mr. Cheescman said, could be distinguished by Its round snout and the presence of ventral fins.. '/