was caught by three fishermen in Gage Roads on Thursday last. Mr. Woodward
states that, on learning of the capture, the taxidermist at the Museum
proceeded to Fremantle, and at once declared the monster to be a sword
fish. The statement that the authorities at the Museum refused to purchase
the fish for £3 was, he said, incorrect. Arrangements were made with the
fishermen that they should send their capture to the Museum for £3 12s.,
but, evidently, the men found that they could make more money by
exhibiting it. Decomposition having commenced, it became too late to
preserve the specimen, while the fin, which was one of the most
distinctive features, had been so damaged that it could not have been set
up as a skeleton. Mr. Woodward pointed out that the term “crustacean” was
applied to creatures of the crab, lobster, or scorpion species.

“The sword-fish,” said Mr. Woodward, “are oceanic fish, occurring in all
the tropical and sub-tropical seas. They are always on the look-out for
prey, and are endowed with extreme strength and velocity, and so are
rarely captured. The species found in the Indian and Pacific oceans belong
to the “genus histiophorus,” and are distinguished from the common
Mediterranean sword-fish, by having ventral fins. They attain a length of
from 12ft. to 15ft. ; consequently the one captured at Fremantle being
16ft., must be an exceptionally large specimen. Swords have bean obtained
more than 3ft., long, with a diameter of 3in. at the base. The sword is
formed by the prolongation of the maxilliary [sic] (jaw) bones. It is
rough on its lower surface, owing to the development of rudimentary teeth.
It is very hard and strong, and forms a most formidable weapon. The fish
never hesitates in attacking whales and other cetaceons, [sic] and their
mode of action is to repeatedly stab these animals until they become
helpless, and then feed upon them. Swordfish not unfrequently [sic] attack
boats, and even ships, evidently mistaking them for whales. Sometimes they
succeed in piercing the bottom of a ship, endangering its safety, but as
they are seldom able to execute a sufficiently powerful backward movement
to extract their sword from the timbers, it gets broken off and remains as
a plug. A piece of 2in. plank of a whaleboat thus pierced by a swordfish
may be seen in the British Museum. The swordfish is often confused with
the Narwhal—a mammal, and not a fish. It has the long horn like ivory, a
spiral tusk which grows to the length of 7ft. or 8ft. This is sometimes
called the sea unicorn, and the fable of the unicorn is believed to have
been derived from some tusks of these that were found before the animal
was known. The narwhal belongs to the same family as the dolphins.”

Mr. Woodward shares the opinion that the swordfish taken at Fremantle must
have been fighting, and, consequently, it had been very siriously [sic]
injured ; otherwise the fishermen would never have been able to capture it.