What is a swordfish's sword? It is a long, flat bill. The bill is shaped like a flattened oval. The fish is also called a broadbill. It is longer than the bills of other billfishes. Now we can ask the big question: what does a swordfish use its sword for?

Scientists think a swordfish uses its sword when it hunts for food. Here is the clue. Squid and cuttlefish eaten by swordfish often show slash marks on their bodies. A slash is a quick cut. Scientists think the marks come from the sword. So they think a swordfish slashes at prey with its sword. Scientists say they think this because the marks are a clue.

What does a swordfish eat? A swordfish eats fish and squid. It feeds at many depths, from near the surface into deep water. A grown swordfish has no teeth. Scientists think a swordfish uses its sword when it hunts for these foods. That is the swordfish's menu and its way of getting it.

How big does a swordfish get? As of November 2026, it can grow to about 177 inches long, almost 15 feet, counting the bill. As of November 2026, the largest published weight for a swordfish is 650 kilograms, about 1,400 pounds. Female swordfish are larger than male swordfish. These are the top numbers, not the size of every swordfish.

A female swordfish may carry from 1 million to 29 million eggs. That is a wide range of numbers. The numbers come from scientists who study swordfish, and each number says what was counted: here, the eggs that a female may carry. It is one more number that scientists report about this fish.

Where does a swordfish live? A swordfish lives mostly in midwater, at depths of about 200 to 600 meters. That is about 650 to 1,970 feet down. In the day it stays deep in the ocean, and at night it swims up near the top of the sea to feed. Swordfish live in oceans all around the world.

Words to know

• billfishes: long-billed fish
• broadbill: swordfish name
• slash: cut quickly
• depths: how deep

The short version

What does a swordfish use its sword for? Scientists think a swordfish uses its sword when it hunts for food. Squid and cuttlefish eaten by swordfish often show slash marks on their bodies, so they think it slashes at prey with its sword.

Quick facts

• A swordfish has a long, flat bill that looks like a sword.
• A grown swordfish has no teeth and no scales.
• Squid and cuttlefish eaten by swordfish often show slash marks on their bodies.
• A swordfish is deep in the ocean in the day and rises toward the surface at night.