[Three Hundred Animals Contents]
HAS his name from his long snout resembling the blade of a sword. He weighs sometimes above one hundred pounds, and is sometimes fifteen feet in length. The body is of a conical form, black on the back, white under the belly, a large mouth and no teeth; the tail is remarkably forked. The Sword Fish is often taken off the coast of Italy, in the bay of Naples, and all about Sicily. They are struck at by the fishermen and their flesh is reckoned as good as that of the sturgeon, by the Sicilians, who seem to be particularly fond of it. Other European seas are not destitute of this curious animal.