Some facts about the Great Barracuda

The Great Barracuda is a fierce looking predator that lives and hunts primarily alone. He is a curious fish, and will follow divers around. This fish is very common to the shallow waters of the Caribbean.

The Barracuda is very distinct in his shape and body due to the elongated torpedo-like torso and very large mouth.

The Barracuda has extremely long and sharp teeth and a notched tail.

While some species of Barracuda are less than a foot long, the Great Barracuda can measure up to 6 feet and weigh as much as 100 pounds. The fish in the Video is over 4 feet long.

Barracuda are better adapted to hunting in the coral reefs than, say, a tuna because their bodies, though long, are flexible enough to move through the twists and turns of a reef.

The Barracuda has been around for 50 Million Years.

A shoal of barracuda will stay together in the daytime, but at night the fish goes out to look for food alone. They feed on sleeping fish that are not hiding properly.

On a night dive in the Virgin Islands I once witnessed a barracuda take a Yellow Snapper. He swam by the sleeping fish and took what seemed to me like 2 bites. The first bite took the head and most of the body, the second took what was left, about 20 seconds to devour a fish only slightly smaller than itself!

There are 26 species of Barracuda worldwide, Sphyraena Barracuda is the scientific classification for the Great Barracuda.

Attacks on humans by the Great Barracuda are rare. Inquisitive, sight-oriented fish, Barracudas sometimes exhibit the unnerving habit of trailing divers. When attacks occur more often than not it is because the Barracuda mistakenly interprets a shiny object, such as a diving knife, for the glint of a shiny fish.

The great Barracuda is a common sight when diving on the wrecks and reefs around St Kitts. Shoals of juveniles are often seen, along with the occasional large fish.

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