Barracudas are muscular fish with torpedo-shaped bodies that are streamlined.
They are fitted with an amazing collection of teeth that are razor-sharp.
Past the upper jaw, the lower jaw juts out and both are packed with hundreds of teeth.
Many barracuda species are known as game fish and are considered to be of limited commercial significance.
In the opposing jaw, the long needle-like teeth fit into holes which allow the barracuda to close its mouth completely.
They alternate between swallowing smaller prey entirely when hunting and cutting larger prey in half to be consumed in pieces.
They are opportunistic hunters, hunting primarily by sight.
Naturally, great barracudas are inquisitive.
Barracuda often try to capture fish from spear fishermen or approach divers because they search mainly by sight, mistaking the glint of a diving knife as a shiny fish.
Barracuda rarely attack humans unprovoked, in spite of this activity.
Adult great barracudas are large fish with a lifetime of about 14 years in the wild, some over five feet long and weighing more than 100 pounds.
Barracudas do not have many predators capable of capturing and consuming them, considering their size and speed.
Some anglers esteem barracudas because of their strength and speed as a gamefish.
In North American waters, the great barracuda is not prized as a commercial species, but they can be caught as bycatch in gillnets and other fishing gear.
Here are 15 Amazing Facts About Barracudas
1 . To discourage slippery fish from fleeing after they are caught, some of the teeth of the great barracuda point backwards.
2. Barracudas, like the silvery fish they feed on, are attracted to shiny objects. People with glittering objects such as watches and jewelry entering the water can cause curious barracudas to investigate and confuse these objects for a source of food. The number of attacks on humans is possibly underestimated, but as a precaution, divers entering the water where barracuda are present should remove shiny objects.
3. Interestingly, it is far more dangerous to humans to consume barracuda than to eat most other fish species. After ingesting barracudas, people frequently become sick from ciguatera fish poisoning, possibly because the reef fish that barracudas consume themselves eat algae that may contain high levels of the toxin.
4. Barracudas are great hunters with few natural predators due to their speed and size.
5. The great barracuda can swim at a top speed of 36 mph.
6. Barracudas can grow to 6 feet long and weigh about 100 pounds.
7. Great barracudas can have up to 23 dark stripes on their sides.
8. Barracudas 4.8 feet or more are considered very large.
9. The barracuda’s diet consists of all types of fish: groupers, anchovies, mullets, snappers, and squids and crustaceans sometimes.
10. Generally, when it comes to hunting, adult barracudas are known to be solitary, while young barracudas appear to assemble in large schools, often in hundreds or even thousands.
11. Sometimes, the school will form a confusing ‘tornado’ when a predator attacks a school, preventing any one barracuda in the eyes of the predator from being focused on as a prey.
12. In spring, the mating season takes place. Eggs and sperm cells are released into the water by males and females, where they combine to form fertilized eggs. More than 1000 eggs are produced and released by females, but few survive to adulthood.
13. The largest Barracuda recorded measured 6.9 feet long and weighed 102 pounds for a possible all-tackle world-record.
14. Barracudas reproduced during the springtime. Barracudas don’t look after their fertilized eggs.
They are left to drift out into the ocean until they form.
During spawning, the fish enter shallow waters such as estuaries.
15. Barracuda are competitive animals and are often seen competing against mackerel, needle fish, and sometimes even dolphins over prey.
So there you have it.
Those were 15 amazing facts about barracuda.
Be sure to check out what is a wahoo fish