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| fishes text index | photo index |
| Phylum Chordata > Subphylum Vertebrate > fishes |
| Barracudas Family Sphyraenidae updated Nov 10 Where seen? Very young ones are stick-like and sometimes in seagrass meadows near reefs. Elsewhere, juvenile barracudas are found in mangroves or river estuaries. What are barracudas? Barracudas belong to the Family Sphyraenidae. According to FishBase: the family has 1 genera and 18 species. They are found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Tropical and subtropical. Distribution: Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Features: Those seen on the intertidal are small juveniles usually 5-8cm long. Body short and cylindrical with regular pale bars on a greenish or olive background. Large eyes. Both jaws seem to be about the same length, the upper jaw only a little shorter than the lower jaw. It has a forked tail and the dorsal fins are far apart and well separated. Sometimes mistaken for halfbeaks. Halfbeaks have a much longer lower jaw. Here's more on how to tell apart stick-like fishes commonly seen on our shores. Surface dwellers: It is well adapted to living at the water surface. Usually darker on the top while the sides and underside are silvery. Thus its darker blue or green back blends in with the water surface when above-water predators look down on it. While at the same time, underwater predators looking up at it can't really see it well either as its silvery body blends with the sunlit waters. Its unfish-like body shape also means it is often dismissed as a floating stick. Some small ones are brown and twig-like. What do they eat? These juveniles grow up to be voracious predators more than 1m long. The adults hunt other fishes and adults may even attack humans with their strong jaws which are full of sharp fang-like teeth. Barracuda babies: The adults may be found near coastal reefs and they spawn in schools. Human uses: Barracudas are prized as food and game fishes, but large specimens may be toxic (ciguatoxic). Status and threats: Our barracudas are not listed among the threatened animals of Singapore. However, like other creatures of the intertidal zone, they are affected by human activities such as reclamation and pollution. |
 Pulau Semakau, Sep 05   |
 Pulau Semakau, Apr 08 |
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Baby barracudas on Singapore shores
 Tanah Merah, Aug 09 |
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 Pulau Semakau, Aug 11 |
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 Chek Jawa, May 05  |
 Labrador, Aug 03  |
 Pulau Hantu, Aug 04  |
| Family
Sphyraenidae recorded for Singapore from Wee Y.C. and Peter K. L. Ng. 1994. A First Look at Biodiversity in Singapore. in red are those listed among the threatened animals of Singapore from Ng, P. K. L. & Y. C. Wee, 1994. The Singapore Red Data Book: Threatened Plants and Animals of Singapore.
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Periplus Editions. 292 pp.|
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