Great barracuda

Sphyraena barracuda

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth3–22 m
Water temperature22–30 °C
Best monthsJune, July, and August
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Sphyraena barracuda, commonly known as the great barracuda, is a species of barracuda, a genus of 27 species of large ray-finned fish found in subtropical oceans worldwide.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Great barracuda”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 804 records
February: 688 records
March: 1,094 records
April: 1,157 records
May: 1,423 records
June: 2,347 records
July: 1,842 records
August: 1,864 records
September: 1,307 records
October: 965 records
November: 819 records
December: 755 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–22 m · Deepest record: 1,936 m

0–10 m: 3,594 records
10–20 m: 1,730 records
20–30 m: 702 records
30–40 m: 174 records
40–50 m: 5 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 7 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 22–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 4 records
26–28 °C: 483 records
28–30 °C: 205 records

Photos

(c) Quinn, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ashwin Srinivasan, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) coenobita, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Owen Strickland, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Great barracuda, Barra, Barracuda, Commerson's Sea Pike, great barracuda, Great Barra Cuda, Short Barracuda, Striped Seapike

Names in 5 more languages

German: amerikanischer pfeilhecht, picúa corsaria
Spanish: barracuda, Becuna, Picua, Picúa, Picua Brava, Picúa Zorra, Picuda, Picuda Barracuda, Picuda Brava, Picús Corsaria, Picúua, Picúua Brava
French: Barracouda, Barracouda, Brochet de mer, Barracouta, Barracuda, Barracuda, Brisure, Bècune, barrcouda, Béchine, Bècune, Brisure, Brochet de mer, Grand barracuda, Grande béchine
Japanese: Oni-kamasu, Onikamasu, オニカマス
Simplified Chinese: 大魣, 巴拉庫答, 巴拉金梭魚, 竹梭, 金梭

Other scientific names: Agrioposphyraena barracuda, Esox barracuda, Sphyraena affinis, Sphyraena agam, Sphyraena baracuda, Sphyraena becuna, Sphyraena commersoni, Sphyraena commersonii, Sphyraena dussumieri, Sphyraena picuda, Syphyraena barracuda

Similar species

Yellowtail barracuda
Sphyraena flavicauda
Bigeye barracuda
Sphyraena forsteri
Pickhandle barracuda
Sphyraena jello
Obtuse barracuda
Sphyraena obtusata
chevron barracuda
Sphyraena putnamae
Blackfin barracuda
Sphyraena qenie

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
16,935 open-data records from 1771 to 2024.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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