Barracuda

Sphyraena sphyraena, also known as the European barracuda or Mediterranean barracuda, is a ray-finned predatory fish of the Mediterranean basin and the warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Habitat

Sphyraena sphyraena is normally a pelagic species found high in the water column, but smaller fish often found near bottom of the water column. The main food is other fish but sometimes includes cephalopods and crustaceans. They are a social species and large groups of Sphyraena sphyraena numbering between ten and two hundred have been recorded. Reproduction occurs between May and August and the female can lay up to 300,000 eggs. The copepod Bomolochus unicirrus is known to be an ectoparasite of S. sphyraena.

Distribution

In the Eastern Atlantic Sphyraena sphyraena is found from the Bay of Biscay in the north through the Canary Islands and the Azores to Mossamedes, Angola in the south. It is also found throughout the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It has been found as far north as Cornwall in the United Kingdom.