Barracuda

Barracuda; Temporal range: Mid Cretaceous to Present
	Great barracuda, Sphyraena barracuda, with prey
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Istiophoriformes
Family:	Sphyraenidae
Genus:	Sphyraena; Klein, 1778
Type species
	Sphyraena sphyraena; Linnaeus, 1758

A barracuda is a ray finned-fish that is about 6 feet in length. It is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide.

It is of the genus Sphyraena, the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae. It is famous for its intimidating and ferocious behavior. It is the reason that divers take off any shiny or glittery bracelets in the water. They eat fish that are silver in color, which may cause them to attack someone if they are wearing any shimmering objects.

These fish usually stay near the top of the water around sea grass and coral reefs.

Description

Barracudas have long bodies and sharp teeth like a piranha. Their gill covers are covered with small scales and they have far away dorsal fins. They have a large swim bladder.

Species list

Extant species

Barracudas have 29 extant species:

Sphyraena acutipinnis F. Day, 1876 (Sharpfin barracuda)
Sphyraena afra W. K. H. Peters, 1844 (Guinean barracuda)
Sphyraena arabiansis E. M. Abdussamad, Ratheesh, Thangaraja, Bineesh & D. Prakashan, 2015 (Arabian barracuda)
Sphyraena argentea Girard, 1854 (Pacific barracuda)
Sphyraena barracuda (G. Edwards, 1771) (Great barracuda)
Sphyraena borealis DeKay, 1842 (Northern sennet)
Sphyraena chrysotaenia Klunzinger, 1884 (Yellowstripe barracuda)
Sphyraena ensis D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert, 1882 (Mexican barracuda)
Sphyraena flavicauda Rüppell, 1838 (Yellowtail barracuda)
Sphyraena forsteri G. Cuvier, 1829 (Bigeye barracuda)
Sphyraena guachancho G. Cuvier, 1829 (Guachanche barracuda)
Sphyraena helleri O. T. Jenkins, 1901 (Heller's barracuda)
Sphyraena iburiensis Doiuchi & Nakabo, 2005
Sphyraena idiastes Heller & Snodgrass, 1903 (Pelican barracuda)
Sphyraena intermedia Pastore, 2009
Sphyraena japonica Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801 (Japanese barracuda)
Sphyraena jello G. Cuvier, 1829 (Pickhandle barracuda)
Sphyraena lucasana T. N. Gill, 1863 (Lucas barracuda)
Sphyraena novaehollandiae Günther, 1860 (Australian barracuda)
Sphyraena obtusata G. Cuvier, 1829 (Obtuse barracuda)
Sphyraena picudilla Poey, 1860 (Southern sennet)
Sphyraena pinguis Günther, 1874 (Red barracuda)
Sphyraena putnamae D. S. Jordan & Seale, 1905 (Sawtooth barracuda)
Sphyraena qenie Klunzinger, 1870 (Blackfin barracuda)
Sphyraena sphyraena Linnaeus, 1758 (type) (European barracuda)
Sphyraena tome Fowler, 1903
Sphyraena viridensis G. Cuvier, 1829 (Yellowmouth barracuda)
Sphyraena waitii W. Ogilby, 1908

Extinct species

There are also extinct species:

†Sphyraena amici Agassiz, 1843
†Sphyraena bognorensis Casier, 1966
†Sphyraena bolcensis Agassiz, 1844
†Sphyraena crassidens de Beaufort, 1926
†Sphyraena croatica Gorjanović-Kramberger, 1882
†Sphyraena cunhai da Silva Santos & Travassos, 1960
†Sphyraena egleri da Silva Santos & Travassos, 1960
†Sphyraena fajumensis (Dames, 1883)
†Sphyraena hansfuchsi (Schubert, 1906)
†Sphyraena kugleri Casier, 1966
†Sphyraena longimana Arambourg, 1966
†Sphyraena lugardi White, 1926
†Sphyraena major Leidy, 1855
†Sphyraena malembeensis Dartevelle & Casier, 1943
†Sphyraena pannonica Weiler, 1938
†Sphyraena senni Casier, 1966
†Sphyraena sternbergensis Winkler, 1875
†Sphyraena striata Casier, 1946
†Sphyraena substriata (Münster, 1846)
†Sphyraena suessi Gorjanović-Kramberger, 1882
†Sphyraena tsengi Tao, 1993
†Sphyraena tyrolensis von Meyer, 1863
†Sphyraena viannai Dartevelle & Casier, 1949
†“Sphyraena” viennensis Steindachner, 1859
†Sphyraena weberi Leriche, 1954
†Sphyraena winkleri Lawley, 1876

How they attack prey

These ferocious creatures attack prey by surprising them. They also release short bursts of speed up to 27 mph (43 km/h).

Human interactions

Barracudas sometimes attack people, especially when they get shiny jewelry. Luckily, these attacks are rare and are usually caused by poor visibility.

Related pages

Sphyraena intermedia
Sphyraena barracuda
Sphyraena sphyraena
List of fish common names
Parasphyraena – a related genus from the Miocene of Azerbaijan

References

"Barracuda | fish". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-05-03.
"Barracuda Fish Facts". AtlanticPanic.
"Jumping barracuda injures kayaker off Florida Keys". Reuters.
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Sphyraena acutipinnis" in FishBase. August 2019 version.

Other websites

Sphyraena on Wikidata