The
barracuda is a ray-finned fish known for its large size and fearsome
appearance. Barracudas are long, lean hunting machines. Their sleek bodies
enable them to dart through the water at speeds of up to 25 miles an hour (40
kilometers an hour) in pursuit of fish to shred and devour with their
razor-sharp teeth.
Its
body is long, fairly compressed, and covered with small, smooth scales. Some
species can reach up to 2.1 m (6.9 ft) in length and 30 cm (12 in) in width.
The barracuda is a saltwater fish of the genus Sphyraena, the only genus in the
family Sphyraenidae. The barracuda is highly evolved to be a master predator in
its environment—the fish has been honing its skills for some 50 million years.
The
barracuda is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide ranging from
the Eastern border of the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea and Caribbean
Sea . They are found near the top of the water and near coral reefs
and sea grasses.
It
is known that Barracuda feed on an array of prey including fishes such as
jacks, grunts, groupers, snappers, small tunas, mullets, killifishes, herrings,
and anchovies by simply biting them in half.
Scientific
classification of barracuda:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Sphyraenidae Rafinesque, 1815
Genus: Sphyraena Klein, 1778
Barracudas
are popular both as food and game fish. They are most often eaten as fillets or
steaks. Larger species, such as the great barracuda, have been implicated in
cases of ciguatera food poisoning.
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