- Any of various fishes of the family Istiophoridae, such as a marlin or sailfish, having an elongated, swordlike or spearlike snout and upper jaw.
- Any of various other fishes having long, pointed jaws.
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The noun has 4 meanings:
Meaning #1:
primitive predaceous North American fish covered with hard scales and having long jaws with needle-like teeth
Synonyms: gar, garfish, garpike, Lepisosteus osseus
Meaning #2:
giant warm-water game fish having a prolonged and rounded toothless upper jaw
Meaning #3:
slender long-beaked fish of temperate Atlantic waters
Synonyms: saury, Scomberesox saurus
Meaning #4:
elongate European surface-dwelling predacious fishes with long toothed jaws; abundant in coastal waters
Synonyms: needlefish, gar
The term billfish is applied to a number of different large, predatory fish characterised by their large size (swordfish can be over 4 metres long) and long, sword-like bill. Billfish span the sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istiophoridae, and the swordfish, sole member of the family Xiphiidae. They are important apex predators feeding on a wide variety of smaller fish and cephalopods. While billfish are most common in tropical and subtropical waters, swordfish in particular are sometimes found in temperate waters as well.
Billfish are exploited both as food and as game fish. Marlin and sailfish are not commonly eaten, but important sport fisheries target these species, for example off the Atlantic coast of Florida. Because of worries about declining populations, sport fishermen and conservationists now work together to gather information on billfish stocks and implement programs such as catch and release, whereby fish are returned to the sea after they have been caught.
Swordfish are large and have meat that is firm and tasty, and are subject to intense fisheries pressure, and in many places where they were formely abundant they are now comparatively rare.
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![]() | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more | |
![]() | Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Billfish". Read more |
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