Photo of barracuda - Barracuda habitat

Barracuda - submarine chaser with a streamlined body shape, it instantly attacks its prey. With its razor-sharp teeth, a barracuda can bite off a diver's leg.

Basic data:
DIMENSIONS
Length: up to 3 m.
Weight: the most confirmed weight is 46.7 kg.

REPRODUCTION
It is believed that barracudas mate on the open sea.

LIFESTYLE
Habits: small fish swim in schools, large fish, as a rule, stay alone.
Food: almost all types of fish.
Lifespan: unknown.

Related SPECIES
There are about 20 known species of barracuda, the most common being the silver barracuda (Sphyraena argentea).
Length various types barracudas vary from 45 cm to 3 m. Large barracudas, which can reach 3 meters in length, are among the most dangerous species. Based on verified evidence that they attacked people, they were nicknamed “sea tigers.”
FOOD
The stories about the barracuda as an insatiable predator are more than true. All members of the family are bloodthirsty predators, and their food preferences depend on their habitat and size. Barracudas prey on sea bass, bettas, bream, horse mackerel, anchovies, sardines and even juveniles of their species. Typically, barracudas attack their prey with lightning speed, grabbing it tightly with razor-sharp teeth. Barracudas have excellent eyesight, which is why they swim well in muddy water, where, as a rule, they see better than their potential prey. When hunting together, barracudas attack fish swimming in schools. Barracuda, having reached a significant size, can eat poisonous pufferfish. Probably, toxins from the meat of these fish accumulate in its muscles, so the meat of large barracudas is dangerous. Poisoning with their meat often leads to death. Large barracuda often attacks swimmers. It happens that these cases are attributed to sharks.
Long, slender body allows barracuda instantly attack prey.
LOCATION
Barracudas live in all tropical and subtropical seas of the Indian, Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans. Adult barracuda usually stay in shelf waters near the bottom, often near coral reefs and underwater rocks. During a storm, she approaches the shore. Young small individuals remain close to the coast, in shallow water with a sandy or algae-covered bottom. Medium-sized barracudas usually swim and hunt in small schools, which is quite a rare occurrence For predatory fish. Large barracudas often hunt alone.
Two rows of sharp teeth make the barracuda a dangerous predator.
REPRODUCTION
Adult barracudas are so aggressive that they prefer to stay alone. However, during spawning they unite in schools. At this time, females spawn in the upper layer of water.
Young females can lay up to 5 thousand eggs during spawning, and fish aged 7-12 years even up to 300 thousand. Surprisingly, barracuda fry begin to hunt immediately after hatching from the eggs. In the first year, young people stay in shallow water. Male barracudas become sexually mature at the age of 2-3 years, and females a year later.
BARACUDA AND MAN
There is evidence of large barracudas attacking people: fishermen and scuba divers. Some of them are credible, while others are clearly exaggerated. However, barracudas inspire the same fear in people who swim as sharks. Often these fish, out of curiosity, swim next to a person, accompanying her and observing her behavior. They immediately pick up on fast, jerky human movements and likely believe they are dealing with potential prey. Large barracudas are not only dangerous, but also inedible. The meat of other species, such as the sphyrene and the striped and silver barracuda, is considered a delicacy.
Tropical seas inhabited by barracuda are often visited by scuba divers, so human encounters with barracuda are not unusual.
OR DID YOU KNOW THAT...
Barracudas can be attracted using yellow color, since the fish they usually hunt are partially colored in this color.
Barracuda sometimes called "sea pike" because it looks like this freshwater fish. However, these species are not related.
It's amazing how large barracudas reach certain sizes, can eat pufferfish. This is really unusual, since the pufferfish in danger swells greatly and causes the death of the predator who wants to feast on them.
In the 18th century caught barracudas up to 4.6 m long.
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES of barracuda
A noticeable and at the same time scary feature of the barracuda is its lower jaw, which protrudes far forward. Both barracuda jaws are covered with sharp teeth. On the outside there is one row of small, sharp teeth, and with inside the fish has another row of thin incisors. It seems designed for a swift, deadly attack, and its long and slender body has two high dorsal fins located far apart. The caudal fin is wide and strong. The barracuda's body is silver in color with several dark spots. The scales covering the body of the barracuda are cycloid.
LIVING PLACE
Barracudas are found in all tropical seas, especially near coral reefs and underwater rocks. Barracudas are probably most numerous in the western part Pacific Ocean and in the Caribbean region.
PRESERVATION
The meat of small barracudas has excellent taste. Consumption of large barracuda meat often leads to serious poisoning.

Barracuda is also called sphyrena (from the native Latin name) and sea pike (due to its external similarity with common pike). Absolutely all 26 species of fish from the barracuda family are found in tropical and subtropical oceans. climatic zones. Such fish are usually caught near the surface, where the water is well heated sun rays. For example, the Mediterranean Sea has 4 species of barracuda, the Red Sea - 8. Interestingly, the bulk of Israel’s catch comes from Mediterranean Sea- that’s exactly what barracudas are. The Israelis call this fish "malita". The topic of our article today is “Barracuda fish: beneficial features".

Living in natural environment habitats, barracudas lead predatory image life. They eat small fish, shrimp and squid. Sometimes they hunt in packs. Adult barracudas hunt alone. The barracuda's body is elongated, its scales are small, its dorsal fins are short, its mouth is wide with large, sharp teeth. Barracuda is not dangerous to humans. Barracuda, like other types of sea fish, is extremely beneficial for the human body.

Scientists have proven that fish, other seafood and meat provide the human body with protein that nothing else can replace. Natural protein is especially needed by the developing body (people under 25 years old), and, no matter what vegetarians say, in at a young age it is simply necessary. The meat of young barracudas up to 60 cm in size and weighing up to 1.5 kg is used for food. Barracuda meat is very tasty. For example, in Japan this meat is highly valued taste qualities, and in Australia the barracuda is considered national dish. It is eaten raw, it is also processed until it is completely unrecognizable and is always served in combination with sauce and rice.

Fish products are absorbed in the human body faster than meat products. This is due to the fact that fish contains less roughage connective tissue, and during heat treatment it loses no more than 20% of the liquid.

This makes the finished cooked fish very juicy and tender. Again, for these reasons, fish is considered an easily digestible food and is often used in baby and diet foods.

Barracuda contains all the necessary amino acids: lysine, methionine, tryptophan. But the most valuable amino acid is taurine. It regulates blood sugar levels by stimulating the release of insulin and prevents the development of hypertension.

Barracuda is rich in valuable fats. Fish oil remains liquid even at low temperatures and is therefore better absorbed. IN fish oil a lot of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are popularly called omega-3. These fats, like vitamins, cannot be produced by the body on their own, and their absence can cause disease. Omega-3 is part of a group of substances that are responsible for blood clotting. Fats have the properties of dissolving cholesterol, reducing the likelihood of thrombophlebitis, stroke, heart attack, psoriasis, and sclerosis. Common diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, weakness immune system associated with omega-3 deficiency. People who regularly consume omega-3 have good eyesight and live longer lives. Barracuda meat contains vitamins A, D, E, F, iodine, selenium and some antioxidants that are important for the body.

An adult barracuda reaches two meters in length. Since it feeds on plankton containing toxic dinoflagellates and eats poisonous puffer fish, the meat is unsuitable for food and is very poisonous. Ciguatoxin poisoning is that it can cause barracuda, which was completely healthy yesterday. The first signs of poisoning: numbness of the lips and tongue, a metallic taste in the mouth, after a certain time - pain in the abdomen, pain in the muscles of the limbs and joints. And most characteristic feature- incorrect skin sensation of temperature environment: Cold objects appear hot, and heated objects appear cold. How bigger fish, the more toxins it contains, especially in the head, liver, caviar and milk.

The exotic poison is not destroyed by heating or freezing and is not digested by gastric juice. When drinking alcohol, the effect of the poison increases. This is what it is, the barracuda fish, whose beneficial properties few know.

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Barracuda fish is one of the twenty most known species sea ​​predators reaching three meters in length.

The behavior of adult individuals is quite aggressive, for this reason they stay solitary.

This one is very dangerous fish, its size allows it to attack swimmers or scuba divers; the consequences of a barracuda attack can be the most tragic.

Weight itself big fish This species reaches up to 45 kg. Body length varies from 2.5 to 3.2 meters. A terrible and noticeable feature of this bloodthirsty sea ​​dweller is the lower jaw, which is strongly pushed forward. Strong jaws equipped with several rows of powerful and razor-sharp incisors.

The body and shape of the head resembles a torpedo, which is ready to attack at any moment at maximum speed. By the way, a huge and wide tail fin helps her in this.

There are seven fins on her body, two of them are located on the back far from each other, two more on the sides, and the rest on the lower part of the long body.

Scuba divers often confuse this fish with a pike fish in the distance, but all doubts disappear when the object comes closer. By the way, the body of the fish has a silver color with several black spots.

This species is distributed in almost all tropical seas globe. They are also frequent visitors to the Western Pacific and near the Caribbean islands.

Young individuals preferentially stay in packs, although this is surprising, since predators, as a rule, prefer solitude from a young age. Adult barracudas, due to their nasty and hot-tempered nature, are forced to be hermits.

It is necessary to say a few words about the relationship between the young and older generation. When older animals meet young animals, they can attack and eat them. From here the conclusion suggests itself; thrives among this fish species cannibalism.

Their main and perhaps most favorite habitat is coral reefs, where they can hide and, at the right moment, attack prey. During a storm, they try to stay closer to the shore.

There is confirmed evidence of specific attacks by these fish on humans. By nature, she is quite curious, so if she sees a scuba diver, she immediately tries to accompany him. Sudden movements can provoke her into an attack, which can cause serious injuries, including the loss of a limb.

Attention! Be careful when meeting adults - they are the most aggressive and pose the same danger to humans as the white shark.

You also need to know that it is strictly forbidden to eat the meat of adult and old fish of this species, because this can cause severe toxic poisoning of the body, followed by death. We will describe the reason in detail at the end of the article.

Nutrition

There are opinions that she is the most bloodthirsty representative of this species of fish. At least we don’t have the slightest doubt about this fact.

The diet is very diverse and depends on the habitat; here are a few potential victims that are included in its daily menu:

• herring;
• sardines;
• cockerels;
• anchovies;
• horse mackerel;
• bream;

As you guessed, this list is only part of the menu; in fact, it is much larger. During a lightning-fast attack, she grabs the victim with her jaws with sharp teeth, from which it is impossible to escape. She also has excellent navigation in muddy water thanks to her impeccable vision. Young fish often practice group attacks on large schools of fish.

The bulk of this species of fish leads single image life, but during the spawning period they gather in large schools. The peak of spawning occurs in April and continues until September.

Young females can throw more than five thousand eggs, and adults up to three hundred thousand.

Interestingly, after the barracuda fish fry hatch, they immediately begin hunting.

At the moment she is not in danger, this is due to the complete absence of a natural enemy.

IN wildlife she can live up to 15 years.

1. The meat of young fish has excellent taste, but eating the meat of adult fish is prohibited. This is due to the toxins that she accumulates throughout her life. Presumably, these substances are contained in the poisonous pufferfish, which barracuda often attacks.
2. You can easily attract her attention with the color yellow.
3. The character is nasty and aggressive.
4. Adults pose a danger to swimmers.

Barracudas are large predatory fish from the Mullet order. Despite their systematic affiliation, they do not resemble mullets. Most of all, barracudas resemble pikes, for which they received their second unofficial name “sea pikes”. However, it should be remembered that this similarity is purely external - convergent - that is, caused by a similar way of life, and there are no real family ties between barracudas and pikes. The barracuda family has 20 species.

Great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda).

All members of the family are large in size - on average, the length of barracudas is 1 m, but specimens up to 2 m long are not uncommon! Body weight varies from 2 to 10 kg. The body of the barracuda is elongated, cylindrical, the head is “pike” with a pointed snout. The fins of barracudas are relatively small in size; unlike pikes, most barracudas have 2 dorsal fins, the first dorsal fin there are 5 sharp spiny rays. Barracudas have very small scales. These fish are colored silver, greenish-gray or blue-gray; many species have stripes on their sides.

In the barracuda's mouth there are large sharp teeth, usually the lower jaw is slightly larger than the upper jaw and they open wide.

Barracudas - sea ​​fish, they live only in warm waters Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as in some seas (Caribbean, Mediterranean). Barracudas stick to shallow waters and are more often found near shores and coral reefs. Adults stay solitary, while young animals often gather in numerous flocks. Such schooling is not typical for predatory fish and is a kind of calling card of barracudas. Adult fish move relatively little, preferring to stalk prey from ambush; for this they hide in secluded corners coral reef. Barracudas living in a flock, on the contrary, are mobile, daring, they constantly move in search of food and, when they see prey, they immediately attack it with the whole flock. Barracudas are capable of cruising speeds of up to 43 km/h, so few fish can escape from them. Barracudas also do not have the slightest kindred feelings for their fellow fish: if one fish in a school gets wounded, it risks being torn to pieces by its neighbors. This puts barracudas on the same level as sharks in terms of danger and voraciousness.

A flock of barracudas.

Barracudas feed on horse mackerel, anchovies, and sardines, that is, they prefer to attack schooling fish species in order to satiate their exorbitant appetite. But single fish, especially wounded ones, are not protected from their attack. Interestingly, barracudas eat poisonous pufferfish without the slightest harm to themselves, but then they accumulate in their meat dangerous toxins. There are known cases of people being poisoned by the meat of barracudas caught near coral reefs. It is characteristic that barracudas often dare to attack fish of the same size; there are also cases of attacks on people. However, the danger of barracudas to humans is greatly exaggerated; in most cases, these fish swim peacefully next to divers without showing aggression.

Oddly enough, little is known about the reproduction of barracudas. According to some sources, the breeding season occurs in spring and summer; according to others, barracudas breed all year round. Spawning is timed to coincide with the full moon, females lay eggs directly into the water, and males fertilize them. Barracuda eggs are pelagic, meaning they float freely in the water. The fry stay close for the first time coastline, often found at river mouths. As they grow older, young barracudas move further and further from the shore.

Blackfin barracuda (Sphyraena qenie).

Of course, barracuda fry are eaten by other fish. Adults have few enemies, but these fish are often caught by fishermen. Barracuda meat is tasty and prized Food Industry. Fishing for barracudas can be industrial (in this case they are caught with nets) and sport. Sport fishing for barracudas is no less exciting than shark hunting.