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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
barracuda,
cuda |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Osteichthyes |
| ORDER: |
Perciformes |
| FAMILY: |
Sphyraenidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Sphyraena
spp. (18 species) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Barracudas
are muscular fish with streamlined, torpedo-shaped
bodies. They are equipped with an impressive set
of razor-sharp teeth. The lower jaw juts out past
the upper jaw and both are filled with dozens of
teeth. |
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| SIZE: |
Many
members of this family are small and harmless to
humans. The northern barracuda (Sphyraena borealis),
for example, lives along the U.S. Atlantic coast
from Cape Cod to Florida and only grows to roughly
46 cm (18 in.) in length. The largest species, the
great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), can
grow up to 3 m (10 ft.) in length. |
| FEMALE |
In
general, females grow to be larger than males. |
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| INCUBATION: |
Oviparous
(egg laying); spawn in schools |
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| RANGE: |
The
great barracuda is found in all temperate and tropical
waters except the eastern Pacific Ocean and the
Mediterranean Sea |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Not
listed |
| CITES |
Not
listed |
| USFWS |
Not
listed |
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| 1. |
Some
of the teeth of the great barracuda point backwards
to prevent slippery fish from escaping once they
are seized. |
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| 2. |
Barracudas hunt more by sight than smell; a fact
that may lead to unfortunate attacks on human divers.
Barracudas are attracted to shiny objects, like
the silvery fish they prey on. Humans that enter
the water with glittering objects, such as watches
and jewelry, may cause curious barracudas to investigate
and mistake these objects for a food source. The
number of attacks on humans is probably overstated,
but divers that enter the water where barracuda
are present should remove shiny objects as a precaution. |
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| 3. |
Interestingly, ingesting barracuda is considerably
more harmful to humans than eating any other fish
species. People often become ill from ciguatera
fish poisoning after ingesting barracudas, perhaps
because the reef fish that barracudas eat themselves
consume algae that may contain high levels of the
toxin. |
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| 4. |
For
more information about bony fishes, explore the
bony
fishes info book. |
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| Many
species of barracuda are classified as game fish
and are considered of minor commercial importance. |
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|
|
| Andrews,
A., Parham, D. and W. Street. Bony Fishes.
SeaWorld Education Department Publication. San Diego,
SeaWorld, Inc. 1995. |
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|
Burgess, W. and H.R. Axelrod. Pacific Marine
Fishes. Book 4. Neptune City, NJ. T.F.H. Publications,
Inc. Ltd. 1974. |
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|
Eschmeyer, W.N., Herald, E.S. and H. Hammann.
Peterson Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes.
New York. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1983.
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| http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/fishid.html |
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| http://www.fishbase.org/ |
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