Great Barracuda

A Great Barracuda calmly watching potential prey

With its large, silvery body, razor sharp teeth, and crazed stare, the great barracuda is an intimidating sight.  Their defining feature is a large underslung jaw containing numerous pointed teeth. Additionally, great barracudas usually have dark blotches and side bands along their slender, conical bodies.  They are typically between one and three feet but can grow as large as six feet.

The scientific name for the great barracuda is Sphyraena barracuda.  They belong to the class Ostiechythes, or bony fishes, and the family Sphyraenidae, or barracudas.  The barracuda family is defined by an elongated body figure, long jaws, a large forked tail, and two, low, widely separated dorsal fins.  

The great barracuda is found in tropical waters throughout the world.  Adults are usually more solitary than juveniles and can be found on offshore reefs, sand flats, and along mangrove forests.  The great barracuda's diet is fairly simple; they are piscivores.  Some of their favorite fish are ballyhoo, triggerfishes, and mullet.  When capturing prey, barracudas use their lighting speed to hunt down their food and numerous teeth to shear it into more manageable pieces.  The great barracuda's teeth are so sharp that it can cut a fish in half with a single bite.

Little is known about the reproduction of great barracudas.  Scientists know that they reproduce sexually through external fertilization.  In south Florida, adult barracudas spawn from early spring to fall by releasing their eggs or sperm into the water column.  The fertilized eggs then hatch in open water where they begin their first stages of life.

References: "Sphyrae Barracuda." Smithsonian Marine Station (SMS) at Fort Pierce. Web. 08 Jan. 2011. <http://www.sms.si.edu/irlspec/Sphyrae_barrac.htm>.; Humann, Paul, and Ned DeLoach. Reef Fish Identification: Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas. Jacksonville, FL: New World Publications, 2002. 40, 63-64. Print.