Barracuda: Difference between revisions
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== As food == |
== As food == |
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Barracudas are caught as both food and game fish. They are most often eaten as |
The various Barracudas are caught as both food and game fish. They are most often eaten as fillets or steaks. Larger species, like the [[Great Barracuda]], have in some areas such as Florida been implicated in cases of [[ciguatera]] food poisoning.<ref>U.S. Food & Drug Administration. [http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~frf/RFE2gb.html Hazard, Market, Geographic and Nomenclature Information for Great Barracuda.]</ref> |
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In southern [[Nigeria]] they are [[smoked]] and used in the preparation of different [[soup]]s. The reason for smoking is because when cooked fresh, the |
In southern [[Nigeria]] they are [[smoked]] and used in the preparation of different [[soup]]s. The reason for smoking is because when cooked fresh, flesh of the barracuda found locally is quite soft and disintegrates in the [[soup]]. |
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== Angling == |
== Angling == |
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Revision as of 15:10, 12 September 2009
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| This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (March 2009) |
| Barracuda | |
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| Great barracuda, Sphyraena barracuda, with prey | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | Sphyraenidae
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| Genus: | Sphyraena Klein, 1778
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| Species | |
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See text | |
The barracuda is a ray-finned fish known for its large size (up to 6 feet (1.8 m) in length and up to 1 foot (30 cm) in width, for some species)[2] and fearsome appearance. Its body is long, fairly compressed, and covered with small, smooth scales. It is a salt water fish, and is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. It is of the genus Sphyraena, the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae.
Appearance and physical description
Barracudas are elongate fish, pike-like in appearance, with large jaws and prominent sharp edged fang-like teeth. These are unequal in size and set in sockets in the jaws on the roof of the mouth. The head is quite large, pointed with the lower jaw jutting out beyond the upper. The gill-covers have no spines and are covered with small scales. The two dorsal fins are widely separated, the anterior having five spines and the posterior having one spine and nine soft rays. The posterior dorsal fin equals the anal fin in size and is situated more or less above it. . The lateral line is prominent and extends straight from head to tail. The spinous dorsal fin is placed above the pelvics and normally retracted in a groove. The caudal fin is only moderately forked: its posterior edge is double curved. It is set at the end of a stout peduncle. The pectoral fins are placed low down on the sides. The barracuda swim bladder is large.
In general, a barracuda's coloration is dark green or gray above,silvery sided and chalky-white below. Coloration varies somewhat between species. For some species, there are irregular black spots or a row of darker cross-bars or on each side. The fins may be yellowish or dusky. Barracudas live primarily in oceans, but certain species such as the Great Barracuda can also be found thriving in brackish water.
Some barracuda species grow quite large, such as the European barracuda, barracouta or spet (S. sphyraena), found in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic; the great barracuda, picuda or becuna (S. picuda), ranging on the Atlantic coast of tropical America from North Carolina to Brazil and reaching Bermuda. Various other baracuda species are found around the world. Examples are the California Barracuda (S. argentea), extending from Puget Sound southwards to Cabo San Lucas; the Indian barracuda (S. jello) and the black-finned or Commerson's barracuda (S. commersoni), from the seas of India and the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. For a more detailed description of specific species, see the list at the end of this article.
Behavior
The collective name for a group of barracudas is a battery[3]. They are voracious opportunistic predators relying on surprise and short bursts of speed (up to 28 miles per hour (45 km/h))[4] to overtake their prey.
Adults of most barracuda species are more or less solitary in their habits, while young and half-grown fish frequently congregate in schools. Barracuda prey primarily on fish, sometimes as large as they are themselves by shearing off large chunks.
Barracudas and humans
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (August 2009) |
Like sharks, some barracuda species have long been reputed as dangerous to swimmers. As barracudas are also scavengers, they may mistake snorkelers for large predators and follow them in the hopes of scavenging the remains of an attack on prey.
Handfeeding or trying to touch large barracuda is unwise. Spearfishing around barracudas can also be dangerous, as they are quite capable of ripping a bite out of a wounded fish thrashing on the end of a spear.
Swimmers being bitten by barracuda have been reported, but such incidents are anectdotal and supposedly caused by bad visibility. As barracuda generally avoid muddy shallows, attacks in the surf are more likely to be by small sharks. Wearing jewelry and other shiny objects by swimmers is unwise as barracudas may mistake things that glint and shine for prey.[5]
As food
The various Barracudas are caught as both food and game fish. They are most often eaten as fillets or steaks. Larger species, like the Great Barracuda, have in some areas such as Florida been implicated in cases of ciguatera food poisoning.[6] In southern Nigeria they are smoked and used in the preparation of different soups. The reason for smoking is because when cooked fresh, flesh of the barracuda found locally is quite soft and disintegrates in the soup.
Angling
Barracuda are prize fish and can be caught by either conventional gear or fly fishing. They are extremely powerful and require appropriately scaled tackle. People who fish for fish such as the barracuda should use steel wire due to their extremely sharp teeth. Floridians who fish for them use around 30 pound test connected to a swivel, which is connected to steel wire and the preferred size hook. For bait fishers use goggle eye, blue runners, threadfins (greenies), sardines, or other kinds of bait. When lure-fishing, Barracuda tubes in yellow and green and white work best because they imitate their prey - the houndfish or needlefish. The lure should be retrieved as soon as possible. Barracuda thrash around, violently, trying to get free, which is dangerous for the fisher because the barracuda has sharp teeth.
Species
There are 27 known species:
- Sharpfin barracuda, Sphyraena acutipinnis Day, 1876.
- Guinean barracuda, Sphyraena afra Peters, 1844.
- Pacific barracuda, Sphyraena argentea Girard, 1854.
- Great barracuda, Sphyraena barracuda (Edwards in Catesby, 1771).
- Northern sennet, Sphyraena borealis DeKay, 1842.
- Yellowstripe barracuda, Sphyraena chrysotaenia Klunzinger, 1884.
- Mexican barracuda, Sphyraena ensis Jordan & Gilbert, 1882.
- Yellowtail barracuda, Sphyraena flavicauda Rüppell, 1838.
- Bigeye barracuda, Sphyraena forsteri Cuvier, 1829.
- Guachanche barracuda, Sphyraena guachancho Cuvier, 1829.
- Heller's barracuda, Sphyraena helleri Jenkins, 1901.
- Sphyraena iburiensis Doiuchi & Nakabo, 2005.
- Pelican barracuda, Sphyraena idiastes Heller & Snodgrass, 1903.
- Sphyraena intermedia Pastore, 2009[7]
- Japanese barracuda, Sphyraena japonica Cuvier, 1829.
- Pickhandle barracuda, Sphyraena jello Cuvier, 1829.
- Lucas barracuda, Sphyraena lucasana Gill, 1863.
- Australian barracuda, Sphyraena novaehollandiae Günther, 1860.
- Obtuse barracuda, Sphyraena obtusata Cuvier, 1829.
- Southern sennet, Sphyraena picudilla Poey, 1860.
- Red barracuda, Sphyraena pinguis Günther, 1874.
- Sawtooth barracuda, Sphyraena putnamae Jordan & Seale, 1905.
- Blackfin barracuda, Sphyraena qenie Klunzinger, 1870.
- European barracuda, Sphyraena sphyraena (Linnaeus, 1758).
- Sphyraena tome Fowler, 1903.
- Yellowmouth barracuda, Sphyraena viridensis Cuvier, 1829.
- Sphyraena waitii Ogilby, 1908.
Notes
- ^ "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: p.560. 2002. Retrieved 2007-12-25.
{{cite journal}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Humann, P. (2002). Reef Fish Identification, Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas, 3rd edition. Jacksonville, Florida, USA: New World Publications, Inc. p. 64. ISBN 1-878348-30-2.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ http://www.hintsandthings.co.uk/kennel/collectives.htm
- ^ Reefquest Center for Shark Research. What's the Speediest Marine Creature?
- ^ Florida Museum of Natural History Ichthyology Department
- ^ U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Hazard, Market, Geographic and Nomenclature Information for Great Barracuda.
- ^ Michele A. Pastore (2009). "Sphyraena intermedia sp. nov. (Pisces: Sphyraenidae): a potential new species of barracuda identified from the central Mediterranean Sea". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 89(6): 1299–1303.
References
- Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Sphyraenidae". FishBase. January 2006 version.
- Labat Jean-Baptiste (1663-1738) Nouveau voyage Isles de l'Amerique, contenant l'histoire naturelle...l'origine, les mour, la religion Paris 1742.
- Norman JR, F.L.S. and Fraser, FC, D.Sc., F.L.S.Field Book of Giant Fishes G.P. Putnam's Sons New York 1949.
- Rochefort Charles D. (1605-1683) Histoire naturelle et morale des illes Antilles de l'Amerique.
- Sloane Hans Sir (1660-1753) A voyage to the islands of Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica London, Printed by BM for the author, 1707-1725.
External links
- Great Barracuda page on website of the Florida Museum of National History.
- Sphyraenidae entry on Animal Diversity Web.