They then stay in mangrove and seagrass habitats until they are about one year old. Great barracuda have a lifespan of at least 14 years, and they typically reach sexual maturity at two years male and four years female. Because barracuda are fairly common and inhabit the same waters where people swim and dive, the chance of encountering a barracuda is quite high.
But despite their proximity to people in the water, barracuda rarely attack or injure humans. Most bites occur when the barracuda mistakes a metallic object for a fish and attempts to snatch it. The barracuda isn't likely to continue biting once it realizes the object in question isn't food.
Barracuda attacks are rare and almost never fatal. Those teeth will do some damage to an arm or leg, though, so victims usually require stitches. While smaller barracuda are generally safe to eat, larger barracuda can be ciguatoxic poisonous to humans because they consume larger fish with higher toxin loads. At the bottom of the food chain, toxic plankton known as Gambiendiscus toxicus attaches itself to algae on the coral reef.
Small, herbivorous fish feed on the algae and consume the toxin, too. Larger, predatory fish prey on the small fish, and accumulate a higher concentration of the toxin in their bodies.
Each successive predator accumulates more toxins. Ciguatera food poisoning is unlikely to kill you, but it's not an experience you'll enjoy. The biotoxins cause gastrointestinal, neurological, and cardiovascular symptoms that persist for weeks or months.
Patients report hallucinations, severe muscle and joint pain, skin irritation, and even a reversal of hot and cold sensations. Unfortunately, there's no way to identify a ciguatoxin barracuda, and neither heat nor freezing can kill the fat-soluble toxins in a contaminated fish.
It's best to avoid consuming large barracuda. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email.
Table of Contents Expand. Habitat and Range. Reproduction and Offspring. Barracudas and Humans. Debbie Hadley. Entomology Expert. Debbie Hadley is a science educator with 25 years of experience who has written on science topics for over a decade. Updated December 13, Cite this Article Format. Hadley, Debbie. Barracuda: Habitat, Behavior, and Diet. Swordfish: Habitat, Behavior, and Diet. Facts and Information About Marine Life. Fascinating and Frightening Frilled Shark Facts. Identification of Jellyfish and Jelly-like Animals.
The illness is serious and symptoms may persist for weeks. Attacks on humans by great barracuda are rare. Inquisitive, sight-oriented fish, barracudas sometimes exhibit the unnerving habit of trailing snorkelers and divers. When attacks occur more often than not it is because a barracuda attempts to steal a fish from spearfishers or mistakenly interprets a shiny object, such as a diving knife, for the glint of a shiny fish.
Such incidents usually consist of one very quick strike, the result of which may be a laceration and some loss of tissue.
Fatalities from barracuda attacks are rare. In , a death off Key West was attributed to a barracuda, followed by another case off the coast of North Carolina in A well-documented barracuda attack occurred on a free diver off Pompano Beach, Florida in The diver was bitten twice, and the resulting injuries required 31 stitches. However, such attacks are uncommon and more often than not easily preventable with a few simple precautions. The IUCN is a global union of states, governmental agencies, and non-governmental organizations in a partnership that assesses the conservation status of species.
It is rare or absent in areas of the eastern Pacific Ocean. Great barracuda commonly occur in nearshore coral reefs, seagrasses, and mangroves. They may also reside in the open ocean, living predominantly at or near the surface, although they are at times found at depths to feet m.
Barracudas tend to be solitary but are sometimes found in small aggregations over reefs and sandy bottoms. Juveniles mature amongst mangroves and seagrass beds, habitats that offer cover from predators. During the second year of life, barracuda move to deeper reef habitats. Juveniles and some adults have been observed in areas that receive high amounts of freshwater input, however adults generally tend to avoid areas of brackish water.
Distinctive Features The great barracuda has a slender, streamlined body that is round in the mid-section. The top of the head between the eyes is nearly flat and the mouth is large, containing many large sharp teeth and a projecting lower jaw. The pectoral fin tips extend to the origin of the pelvic fins. The spinous and soft dorsal fins are widely separated and the double emarginate tail fin exhibits pale tips on each lobe.
Coloration Body coloration of the great barracuda is brownish or bluish gray on the dorsum and upper side, with a greenish cast shading to silvery on the sides and a white belly.
The upper side may have dark bars most often observable when the fish is resting or over a variegated substrate. The black spots on the lower sides of the great barracuda distinguish it from other species of barracuda. The second dorsal fin, anal, and caudal fins are violet to black with whitish tips.
Young barracuda exhibit pale reticulations on the dorsum and a dark stripe on either side that breaks into spots as the fish grows. These patterns are somewhat ephemeral though as juveniles can alter their color patterns to closely match that of their surroundings. These changes in coloration serve to camouflage the fish from predators as well as well as wary prey. Adults have similar coloration along with a more silvery appearance that is advantageous to a fish that swims near the surface of the water.
Dentition The great barracuda has a large mouth containing two sets of razor-sharp teeth, making it an efficient predator. There is a row of small razor-sharp teeth along the outside of the jaw with a larger set of dagger-like teeth within these. The closely set teeth are flattened and triangular with sharp edges used to tear the flesh of prey. Long needlelike teeth fit into their own holes in the opposing jaw, allowing the great barracuda to close its mouth.
This gives its prey little chance of escape. This fish grabs its prey, swallowing small victims whole while larger prey is cut into pieces to be swallowed separately. Size, Age, and Growth Great barracuda are large fish. The record for a hook and line caught great barracuda is 1. Any barracuda over 4. Based on scale analysis of large specimens, great barracuda have a lifespan of at least 14 years. Sexual maturity is reached at a length of about 23 inches 60 cm.
At this size, males are typically about two years and females close to four years of age. Food Habits Great barracudas feed on an array of prey including fishes such as jacks, grunts, groupers, snappers, small tunas, mullets, killifishes, herrings, and anchovies. Barracudas have a large gape and very sharp teeth, enabling them to feed on large fishes by chopping them in half. An opportunistic predator, great barracuda feed throughout the water column.
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