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Barracuda

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For other uses, see Barracuda (disambiguation).

Barracuda
Temporal range: Early Eocene to Present[1]
Great barracuda, Sphyraena barracuda, with prey
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Actinopterygii
Order:
Perciformes
Family:
Sphyraenidae
Genus:
Sphyraena

Klein, 1778
Species

See text

The barracuda is a ray-finned fish known for its large size (up to 6 ft in length and up to a foot in width, for some species)[2] and fearsome appearance. Its body is long, fairly compressed, and covered with small, smooth scales. It is a salt water fish, and is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. It is of the genus Sphyraena, the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae.

Appearance and physical description

Great barracuda hovering in the current at the Paradise Reef, Cozumel, Mexico.

Barracudas are elongated fish with powerful jaws. The lower jaw of the large mouth juts out beyond the upper. Barracudas possess strong, fang-like teeth. These are unequal in size and set in sockets in the jaws on the roof of the mouth. The head is quite large, pointed, and it is pike-like in appearance. The gill-covers do not have spines and are covered with small scales. The two dorsal fins are widely separated, with the first having five spines and the second having one spine and nine soft rays. The second dorsal fin equals the anal fin in size and is situated more or less above it. The lateral line is prominent and extends straight from head to tail. The spinous dorsal fin is placed above the pelvics. The hind end of the caudal fin is forked or concave. It is set at the end of a stout peduncle. The pectoral fins are placed low down on the sides. The barracuda swim bladder is large.

In general, the barracuda's coloration is dark green or gray above chalky-white below. This varies somewhat. Sometimes there is a row of darker cross-bars or black spots on each side. The fins may be yellowish or duskish. Barracudas only live in oceans.

Some species of barracuda grow to a large size. The species which do are the European barracuda, barracouta or spet (S. sphyraena), found in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic; the great barracuda, picuda or becuna (S. picuda), ranging on the Atlantic coast of tropical America from Florida to Brazil and reaching the Bermudas; the California Barracuda (S. argentea), extending from Puget Sound southwards to Cabo San Lucas; the Indian barracuda (S. jello) and the black-finned or Commerson's barracuda (S. commersoni), both from the seas of India and the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago.

Behavior

Scuba diver inside a school of sawtooth barracudas in Koh Tao, Thailand.
File:7373 aquaimages.jpg
Closeup of a great barracuda
Great barracuda and jacks, Saba, Netherlands Antilles
A school of sawtooth barracudas, Sphyraena putnamae in Bora Bora.
Northern sennet, Sphyraena borealis
A school of yellowtail barracudas, Sphyraena flavicauda off Dayang, Malaysia.

Barracudas occur both singly and in schools around reefs, but also appear in open seas. They are voracious predators and hunt using a classic example of lie-in-wait or ambush. They rely on surprise and short bursts of speed (up to 28 miles per hour (45 km/h))[3] to overrun their prey, sacrificing maneuverability.

Adult barracudas are more or less solitary in their habits, while young and half-grown fish frequently congregate in schools. These fish do not care for their young. A barracuda's diet is composed of fish of all types. Large barracudas, when gorged, may attempt to herd a shoal of prey fish in shallow water, where they will guard over the fish until they are ready for another meal. Large barracudas have been known to eat young barracudas.

Barracudas and humans

Like pungpungs, barracudas have long had a bad reputation as being dangerous to humans. As barracudas are also scavengers, they may mistake snorkelers for large predators and follow them in the hopes of scavenging the remains of an attack on prey.

Being formidable hunters, they should be respected, as barracudas are perfectly capable of defending themselves against humans that harass them. Handfeeding or trying to touch them is strongly discouraged.[citation needed] Spearfishing around barracudas can also be quite dangerous, as they are strongly attracted by the wounded fish.

There have been isolated cases where barracudas have bitten a human, but these incidents are rare and are believed to be caused by bad visibility. Barracudas will stop after the first bite as humans are not their normal food source.

Wearing jewelry and other shiny objects is discouraged as barracudas are attracted to things that glint and shine.[citation needed]

As food

Barracudas are caught as both food and game fish. They are most often eaten as fillet or steak and have a strong taste like tuna or salmon. Larger species, like the great barracuda, have in some areas been implicated in cases of ciguatera food poisoning.[4] In southern Nigeria, West Africa they are smoked and used in the preparation of different soups. The reason for smoking is because when cooked fresh, the fish is quite soft and disintegrates in the soup.

Angling

Barracuda are prize fish and can be caught by either conventional gear or fly fishing. They are extremely powerful and require appropriately scaled tackle.People that fish for fish such as the barracuda should use steel wire due to their extremely sharp teeth. Around florida to fish for them we will use around 30 pound test connected to a swivel and that to your steel wire and that directely to preffered size hook. For bait we like to use googgle eye, blue runners, threadfins (greenies),or sardines or realy any type of bait. When lure fishing Barracuda tubes work best, yellow and green and white work best as they imitate their prey the houndfish or needlefish. If you use a nother lure cast your rod to one reel fast and try to take it away from him and hold on to your rod. It is smart to retrieve the lure as soon as possible. Barracuda thrash around, violently, trying to get free. These tactics can be dangerous for the angler due to their sharp teeth.

Because of its sleek appearance and its predatory nature, the barracuda has come to symbolize speed, power, and viciousness. The Plymouth Barracuda, a muscle car, reflects this perception in its name. The song "Barracuda" by the band Heart also uses the image of the fish to represent a deceitful and sinister lover.

The Punisher comic book series features a villain named Barracuda.

Species

There are 26 known species:

Notes

  1. ^ "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: p.560. 2002. Retrieved 2007-12-25. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ Humann, P. (2002). Reef Fish Identification, Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas, 3rd edition. Jacksonville, Florida, USA: New World Publications, Inc. p. 64. ISBN 1-878348-30-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Reefquest Center for Shark Research. What's the Speediest Marine Creature?
  4. ^ U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Hazard, Market, Geographic and Nomenclature Information for Great Barracuda.

References

  • Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Sphyraenidae" in FishBase. January 2006 version.
  • Labat Jean-Baptiste (1663-1738) Nouveau voyage Isles de l'Amerique, contenant l'histoire naturelle...l'origine, les mour, la religion Paris 1742.
  • Norman JR, F.L.S. and Fraser, FC, D.Sc., F.L.S.Field Book of Giant Fishes G.P. Putnam's Sons New York 1949.
  • Rochefort Charles D. (1605-1683) Histoire naturelle et morale des illes Antilles de l'Amerique.
  • Sloane Hans Sir (1660-1753) A voyage to the islands of Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica London, Printed by BM for the author, 1707-1725.
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