Sphyraena barracuda
Great Barracuda
Similar Species
Distribution
Temperate Africa, Temperate Australasia, Temperate South America, Temperate northern Atlantic, Temperate northern Pacific, Tropical Atlantic/Caribbean, Tropical Indo-Pacific
Description
White tips on distinctly scalloped tail, with groove in the middle of the rear margin. Darker bars on the side of the body do not cross below the lateral line, but separate black blotches sometimes exist along the underside. Similar large barracudas S. punamae and S. jello and S. qenie have longer chevron markings crossing the lateral line, and the former two also lack the scalloped tail shape.
Information
Max Size: 200 cm
Sea Temperature Range: 18.8-31.2°C
Depth: 1-100 m
Habitat Generalization Index: 5.66
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 (2.8% 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: Few (3 per transect)
Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.
Edit by: Rick S-S