Sphyraena flavicauda
Yellowtail barracuda | Shortjawed Barracuda | Shortjawed Seapike | Yellow-tail Barracuda | Yellowstripe Barracuda
Similar Species
Distribution
Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
Narrow silver body, often with stripes along sides. Spiny 1st dorsal fin, when extended, is similar height to soft rear dorsal fin. This fin is slightly higher than soft dorsal fin in almost identical S. obtusata (Striped Barracuda), which also has a slightly shorter pectoral fin. Both may or may not have yellow tail. Two other very similar small barracudas, S. forsteri (Blackspot Barracuda) and S. helleri (Heller's Barracuda), differ by pelvic fin position further towards tail, but are very difficult to distinguish in field.
Information
Max Size: 60 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 22-32.2°C
Depth: 2-25m
Habitat Generalization Index: 0.92
Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.
Conservation and Rarity
IUCN Status: Not Evaluated
Occurrence: Infrequent (3.3% of sites)
Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
Abundance: Many (40 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: RD Stuart-Smith, GJ Edgar, AJ Green, IV Shaw. 2015. Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland