A large fish with the upper jaw long and pointed like a sword, which pierces four or five inches of solid wood. Its dorsal fin is high, and ventral fins are absent. It swims very fast, and is one of the deadliest enemies of the whale, which protects itself by diving to the bottom of the sea, whither the sword fish cannot follow. It is plentiful on the coasts of Massachusetts, where it is caught by the harpoon, and its flesh, though coarse, is eaten.