Category Archives: Critters

The staff at San Diego Zoo Global’s off-exhibit Cheetah Breeding Center has been seeing more spots than usual lately—cheetah Addison gave birth to six squirming, squalling cubs in November! This is the second litter for the eight-and-a-half-year-old. Her first four offspring dazzle Safari Park visitors at an exhibit in Okavango Outpost, and from the very beginning, Addison has proved to be an excellent mother. Not to mention prolific; six cubs is an above-average litter size for cheetahs.

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In 2014, Marine biologist and Ph.D. Candidate Juan C. Levesque posted a comprehensive article in the Florida Sportsman about the fascinating lifecycle of the broadbill swordfish. Included with the article was an absolutely amazing closeup photo of a baby swordfish just a few millimeters long.

Born with a short snout and prickly scales, swordfish develop rapidly. Researchers in the Mediterranean Sea estimated the average growth rate of post-larvae/juvenile swordfish at somewhere between one-eighth and one-quarter of an inch per day, which is similar to postlarval growth rates reported for blue marlin and bluefin tuna. In the Pacific Ocean, the average size of a one-year-old swordfish is around 39 inches eye-to-fork length; most one-year-old swordfish are still immature—big babies, so to speak.