Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing barracudas. It might seem like the name barracuda is for a single fish species, but it actually can be applied to an entire family of fish. There are somewhere between twenty and thirty classified, living barracuda species. These fish are generally easy to recognize because they have slender, torpedo shaped bodies and a menacing underbite. Well, maybe menacing isn’t the best word to use. Barracudas have a reputation similar to the piranha in that they’ve been sensationalized as aggressive and mean, but in reality they aren’t so bad. Heck, people even swim with them! This isn’t to say that barracudas never attack humans, but that there’s actually some reasoning behind their rare attacks on people.

Now, I’ll absolutely admit that having a fish that can reach up to 6 feet (1.8m) in length swimming up to 35mph (56kph) directly at someone doesn’t sound fun - but it’s not necessarily the diver these fish are after. Barracudas mostly eat other fish and most of these other fish are shiny. Barracudas primarily use sight to hunt, and the fish they typically hunt glisten in the sunlight. So when a barracuda sees something shimmering on a diver, like a buckle or a knife, it wants to investigate the shiny thing. Normally, the fish will realize the object isn’t food as soon as they get close enough, which admittedly can be bumping straight into a diver, but then they’ll leave with no harm done.

Barracudas are found throughout the world’s tropical and temperate oceans. They can also inhabit brackish water and may do so especially when young. Barracudas reproduce by spawning. This means the eggs are fertilized externally in the water column when male and female barracudas release their sperm and eggs simultaneously. The hatchlings will grow up in shallow water estuaries among protective vegetation. The small barracuda babies will remain here until they reach about 2 inches (5cm) in length at which point they’ll venture out into larger habitats like mangrove coastlines, seagrass beds, and coral reefs. Once they get a little bigger, they’re ready for the open ocean and, depending on the species, may live to be a decade old.

While some barracudas do reach upwards of 6 feet (1.8m) in length as previously mentioned, others may barely be more than a foot (30.5cm) long. While the record holding barracuda weighed over 100 pounds (45kg) most individuals don’t even reach half that weight. These fish have two rows of teeth. The outer row teeth are sharp and used for tearing flesh while the inner row teeth are long and used for holding prey in place. Some of their teeth also point backwards to help secure slippery fish. Barracudas will eat smaller prey whole, but larger prey they will try to snap in half with their large mouths - otherwise they just take large chunks like a cookie cutter shark. Specific prey to barracudas include tunas, jacks, groupers, snappers, killifish, anchovies, herrings and more. Some barracudas travel in schools but others, like the giant barracuda, tend to be found alone. Predators to barracudas include sharks, tuna, and grouper and they’re also eaten by humans, however, they can be toxic for human consumption, so people have to be careful!

For more facts on barracudas, check out the links in the description. Thank you to Amy for today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!