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BARRACUDA, any of 18 species of long, slender, predaceous marine fish, Sphyraena, with small scales, a large mouth with fanglike teeth, and a protruding lower jaw. The tail fin is forked, and the two dorsal fins are widely separated. Barracuda are found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Smaller species swim in schools, but larger species are solitary. S. borealis, which ranges from Bermuda to the Gulf of Mexico, is 46 cm (18 in) long. The great barracuda, S. barracuda, found on both sides of the Atlantic in tropical waters and in the western Pacific, is 1.8 m (6 ft) long. The California barracuda, S. argentea, which is valued as a food fish, winters off Mexico, but when spawning season begins in April, the fish moves north into more temperate waters where the larvae feed on plankton. Although barracuda attacks on humans are rare, they are feared by swimmers in some places. Barracuda constitute the family Sphyraenidae, generally included in the order Perciformes. |