Swordfish do not travel in schools. They either swim alone or in a very loose grouping, separated by up to 10 meters from the nearest swordfish.
The swordfish is one of the fastest animals to live in the ocean; it can swim at speeds up to 60 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour).
Swimming swordfish video clip here from Nation Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA Ocean Explorer
Swordfish play host to 49 different species of parasites. The parasites are located in their stomach and intestines, on their gills, on the surface of their body. Some parasites even bury themselves into the flesh of their host swordfish.
Swordfish are mostly known for their powerful jumping from the ocean, this is commonly called breaching.
Photo courtesy of wefishobx.com
Some researchers believe that swordfish may do this to attempt to dislodge some of the parasites holding on to their outer skin such as remoras or lampreys.
Remora .................................................. Lamprey
Photo courtesy of thejump.net ....................................................... Photo courtesy of alpha1.fmarion.edu
Swordfish have converted a muscle in their head to keep their eyes and brain up to 10 degrees Celcius warmer than the temperature of surrounding waters.
Photo courtesy of Jan van As
With their eyes warmed a swordfish can spot a squid 7 to 12 times faster than if its eyes were not warmed, according to Kerstin Fritshces of the University of Queensland in Australia and her team.
Having this increased response time helps them see fast moving objects more easily, especially in these dim waters of the deep sea. Since none of the prey of the swordfish have this unique ability they probably wont even see the swordfish coming at them.
Photo courtesy of Bay of Islands Swordfish Club Inc.
Swordfish are also known to be very powerful fighters. Often times when they are harpooned or hooked they have dove so fast that they have impaled their swords up to their eyes in the ocean bottom. They have also been known to impaled their swords into the planking of boats as well.
They are not believed to attack without reason, but there was a report of an attack by a swordfish on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s submersible Alvin at 600 meters deep. The swordfish wedged its sword into a part of the ship so hard that it could not dislodge it.