Sailfish vs Swordfish: Speed, Size, Bill & Whether You Can Eat Them

Sailfish vs swordfish is settled by the back and the bill. A sailfish carries a first dorsal fin taller than its own body that runs most of its length, plus a round, slender bill; a swordfish has a short, rigid sickle of a dorsal fin, a long flat sword and no scales. Sailfish are Florida’s state saltwater fish and are almost always released; swordfish is the one you buy as a steak.

If you are choosing dinner, that last line is the whole answer: swordfish is a managed commercial fishery, and sailfish cannot be sold from Atlantic waters at all.

Sailfish vs swordfish at a glance

	Sailfish	Swordfish
Family	Istiophoridae (with marlin and spearfish)	Xiphiidae, a family of one (Florida Museum)
Signature feature	Sail-like first dorsal fin, taller than the body	Flat, sword-shaped bill; tall rigid first dorsal fin
Bill	Round in cross section; upper jaw about twice the lower	Flattened oval, long relative to any other billfish
Scales and pelvic fins	Scaled; long pelvic fins that fold into grooves	Adults scaleless, toothless, no pelvic fins
Size	Atlantic maximum about 124 in and 128 lb; South Florida fish 68–90 in	NOAA: up to about 1,165 lb; Florida Museum: 1,400 lb, 177 in; rod-and-reel record 1,182 lb
Habitat	Surface water above the thermocline, 70–83°F, often nearshore	Mainly 650–1,970 ft deep, dives past 2,100 ft; tolerates 41–80°F
Top speed	Estimated 8.3 m/s (about 19 mph); physics caps it at 10–15 m/s (Svendsen et al.)	NOAA repeats “roughly 50 mph”; same physical ceiling applies
Sold as food in the US?	No; Atlantic billfish sales banned, meat “rarely sold unless smoked”	Yes; year-round, peak June–October (NOAA)
Flavor and texture	“Relatively tough” (Florida Museum)	Slightly sweet, moist, firm, moderate oil (NOAA)
Nutrition and mercury	No USDA entry; large predator, treat like marlin	Cooked, per 100 g (USDA): 172 kcal, 23.4 g protein, 7.9 g fat; FDA “Choices to Avoid”

What’s the difference between a swordfish and a sailfish?

Start with the fin. The Florida Museum says the sailfish’s first dorsal fin “is usually taller than its body” and runs most of the body’s length. A swordfish’s first dorsal fin is high, rigid and crescent-shaped but short front to back, with a tiny second dorsal far down the back.

Then the bill. A sailfish bill is circular in cross section and the upper jaw is roughly twice the length of the lower jaw. The swordfish bill is a flattened oval, longer relative to body size than any other billfish, and the source of the Latin name gladius, meaning sword.

Finally, the body. Sailfish have scales and long pelvic fins that tuck into grooves on the belly. Swordfish lose their scales by about 3 feet in length and have neither jaw teeth nor pelvic fins as adults, the three traits the Florida Museum uses to separate them from the Istiophoridae.

Is the sailfish really the fastest fish in the ocean?

Probably, but not at the speeds you have read. Popular claims of 60 mph and more descend from older estimates of around 35 m/s (78 mph) for sailfish and black marlin. A 2016 study in Biology Open measured the contraction time of sailfish swimming muscle and estimated a maximum of 8.3 m/s, about 19 mph. The authors concluded that sailfish “are incapable of exceeding swimming speeds of 10–15 m/s,” roughly 22–34 mph, because water cavitates around fins moving faster and damages the tissue.

That still made sailfish the fastest of the four predators tested, ahead of barracuda, little tunny and mahi mahi. Swordfish have no equivalent measurement; NOAA’s profile repeats “roughly 50 mph,” which sits above the cavitation ceiling and belongs to the same legend. Both are among the fastest fish alive; neither has been clocked near highway speed.

How big do sailfish get compared to swordfish?

Swordfish are far heavier. NOAA lists a maximum of about 1,165 pounds with typical catches of 50 to 200 pounds; the Florida Museum cites 1,400 pounds and 177 inches, and the rod-and-reel record it reports is 1,182 pounds. Nearly every swordfish over 300 pounds is female.

Sailfish are long but light. The Florida Museum calls them “one of the smaller members of the family Istiophoridae” and gives an Atlantic maximum of about 124 inches and 128 pounds, with Pacific fish reaching about 220 pounds. Off South Florida most run 68 to 90 inches, which is 5.5 to 7.5 feet of fish weighing a fraction of a mature swordfish.

Where do you find sailfish in Florida?

Anywhere a boat can reach the Gulf Stream. The Florida Museum puts the species’ highest western Atlantic abundance in the Gulf of Mexico, along Florida’s Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean, with young fish regularly seen off Florida in their first year. Sailfish are “less oceanic than other billfishes” and make frequent runs nearshore, which is why boats hook them within sight of Palm Beach and Miami condos, usually trolling whole mullet or ballyhoo.

Stuart has called itself the “Sailfish Capital of the World” since 1938, when a Miami Herald outdoors columnist watched a January run off the St. Lucie Inlet that produced roughly 1,000 sailfish in a week, most of them released. The Legislature made the Atlantic sailfish the official state saltwater fish in 1975 (Florida Statutes 15.037).

Swordfish are a different trip. NOAA calls the Gulf and Florida Straits important swordfish nursery grounds, but adults hold at 650 to 1,970 feet and dive deeper, so Florida swordfishing means night drifts or daytime deep-dropping off the Keys, not a morning troll.

Can you eat sailfish?

Legally, only if you caught it yourself, and most anglers do not bother. NOAA’s Billfish Conservation Act page notes Atlantic billfish sales have been banned by regulation since 1988, and the 2012 Act prohibits selling or possessing for sale sailfish, marlin and spearfish nationwide, with an exemption for fish landed in Hawaii and the Pacific Insular Areas. Swordfish is excluded from the Act’s definition of billfish.

Recreational anglers may keep a sailfish of at least 63 inches, lower jaw to tail fork, with an HMS Angling or Charter/Headboat permit covering everyone aboard in federal waters. In practice the fishery is catch-and-release: the Florida Museum reports “little commercial value” and meat that is “relatively tough and rarely sold unless smoked.” Smoked sailfish dip from a private catch is the one common exception.

Swordfish is the opposite. NOAA describes a managed commercial fishery, mostly pelagic longline, with US landings consistently within the international quota and the stock neither overfished nor subject to overfishing. The FDA/EPA advice lists swordfish among “Choices to Avoid” for pregnancy, breastfeeding and children 1–11 because of mercury; sailfish is not named, but as a large, long-lived predator it deserves the same caution.

Sailfish vs marlin: how do you tell them apart?

Both are Istiophoridae with round bills and scales, so look at the dorsal fin. A sailfish’s sail is taller than its body along its whole length; a blue marlin’s first dorsal fin is high at the front and slopes steeply back, and a white marlin’s has a rounded front tip. Size settles the rest: the Florida Museum lists blue marlin at up to 14 feet and “up to a ton,” roughly ten times the weight of a big Atlantic sailfish. Our marlin vs swordfish guide covers the marlin side, including why Hawaii can sell it and Florida cannot.

Swordfish, every time. Order it as a thick steak, grilled or blackened, and read our swordfish taste guide if you want to know what the slightly sweet, steaky flesh is like before committing. If the FDA advisory applies to your table, mahi mahi or wahoo gives you the same firm, grill-friendly bite; Fish On Fire’s menu runs mahi grilled, blackened or fried.

For a richer steak, yellowfin or bluefin tuna is the usual trade-up; our tuna taste guide explains how it eats. Sailfish you will only meet on a charter boat or a wall.

Bottom line

A sailfish is the long, light, sail-backed sprinter of warm surface water; a swordfish is the heavy, scaleless, flat-billed deep diver. The speed records for both are inflated, but sailfish still hold the credible crown. Florida protects sailfish as its state fish and anglers release nearly all of them, while swordfish supports a legal fishery and the steak on your plate.

Sailfish vs Swordfish: What's the Difference?