The Great Barracuda

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The Great Barracuda By Nikki Carnevale
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• Biological Classification
• Kingdom Animalia
• Phylum Chordata
• Subphylum Vertebrata
• Class Actinopterygii
• Order Perciformes
• Suborder Scombroidei
• Family Sphyraenidae
• Species Sphyraena barracuda

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Geographical Distribution The great barracuda
lives in warm waters throughout the world, as
shown by the red region in the map below. Because
it lives in warmer waters it is most commonly
found between longitudes 30 degrees north and 30
degrees south. The most populated area of
barracudas is in the Western Atlantic from
Massachusetts to Brazil, and also the Caribbean
region and the Gulf of Mexico.
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Habitat
-Great barracudas commonly occur in near shore
coral reefs, sea grasses, and mangroves. -Most
barracuda are solitary fish, although some groups
who live out in the open ocean will stick
together. -Barracuda who live in the open ocean
are pretty rare, and are never found below depths
325 feet. These barracuda usually come into the
shallows at night to sleep.
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Anatomy and Distinctive Features The body is
colored silver overall, with dark green to gray
along the back. Blotches on the lower sides are
variable in number, size, and position. The
species reaches a length of 6 feet and a weight
slightly greater than 100 pounds. The top of the
head between the eyes is nearly flat and the
mouth is large, containing many large sharp teeth
and a projecting lower jaw. The reflective silver
color found on some barracudas allows it to use
sunlight as a way to confuse its prey.
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• Interesting Facts about the Barracuda
• Barracudas can be found in huge schools of
  several thousand
• Great Barracudas do not care for their young.
• Humans have not derived a way to tell a male
  Barracuda from a female.
• Barracudas have two completely separate dorsal
  fins.
• Barracudas are generally hunted for gaming
  purposes. They do not make good eating fish.
• Barracudas have sharp, canine-like teeth that can
  slice its victims to pieces.

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What Do Barracudas Eat? Great barracudas feed
on Fish like jacks, grunts, groupers, snappers,
small tunas, mullets, killifishes, herrings, and
anchovies.
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How Do Barracudas Catch Their Food? -Barracuda
lay still in grass beds, camouflaged while
waiting for a fish to swim by. -When they see a
good fish, barracuda attack almost
instantaneously, using bursts of speed that can
reach 36 miles per hour. -Prey have literally no
time to react, and once they are caught they
don't stand a chance because the barracuda cuts
them in to pieces and swallows them.
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Why Barracudas Attack Barracudas rarely attack
humans, most attacks were cases of mistaken
identity -The barracuda mistakes a hand or a
foot as prey -They attack shiny objects such as a
bracelet or a watch on divers because the shiny
objects look like small fish to the barracuda -A
lot of splashing may cause an attack because the
barracuda thinks its struggling fish
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Reproduction -Very little is known about the
spawning and reproduction of the great barracuda.
-It is believed that barracuda spawning is
seasonal. -It is thought that eggs are laid in
deep water, where they ride the current and
attach to grass beds. -When they hatch they stay
hidden in vegetation and bear no resemblance to
adults until they reach about ½ inch. -In the
second year of their life, they move out into the
open water -Barracudas reach sexual maturity when
they are about 2 feet long. (2 yrs for males, 4
yrs for females)