Teleostei (teleosts) >
Carangaria/misc (Various families in series Carangaria) >
Sphyraenidae (Barracudas)
Etymology: Sphyraena: Greek, sphyraina, -es = the name of a fish (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Cuvier.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; brackish; reef-associated; oceanodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 20 - 200 m (Ref. 28016), usually ? - 60 m (Ref. 90102). Tropical; 27°N - 37°S, 29°E - 152°E
Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea (Ref. 12541) south to the southeastern coast of South Africa and east to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Recently reported from Tonga (Ref. 53797). Due to a widespread confusion with Sphyraena putnamae and Sphyraena qenie, the exact range is uncertain.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 150 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 2871); common length : 120 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5450); max. published weight: 11.5 kg (Ref. 40637)
Found near prominent current-swept lagoon or seaward reefs (Ref. 9710); also in bays, estuaries and turbid inner lagoons (Ref. 9768). Diurnal and solitary, although the young form schools. Feeds mainly on fishes but also takes squid. Sold fresh, frozen or dried salted. Reports of ciguatera poisoning need confirmation.
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
De Sylva, D.P. and F. Williams, 1986. Sphyraenidae. p. 721-726. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. (Ref. 5491)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 31637)
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
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Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 23.6 - 28.5, mean 27.3 °C (based on 442 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00724 (0.00608 - 0.00863), b=2.92 (2.88 - 2.96), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 4.5 ±0.6 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 11.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1
growth studies.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.10).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Very high vulnerability (75 of 100).
Climate Vulnerability (Ref.
125649): High to very high vulnerability (73 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 9.99 [4.90, 24.38] mg/100g; Iron = 0.237 [0.110, 0.480] mg/100g; Protein = 20.4 [18.5, 22.0] %; Omega3 = 0.0926 [, ] g/100g; Selenium = 48.2 [21.0, 111.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 34.4 [8.7, 183.3] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.458 [0.304, 0.776] mg/100g (wet weight); based on
nutrient studies.