Great barracuda
Sphyraena barracuda (Edwards, 1771)
The great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) is a bony fish in the family Sphyraenidae, order Perciformes. It reaches a body length of up to 1.7 m and an adult body mass of up to 44 kg.
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Quick facts about the great barracuda
The IUCN Red List assesses the great barracuda globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- up to 44 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 1.7 msrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- vertebratessrc for Main food
- Habitat
- coral_reef, marinesrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
What does the great barracuda eat, and what eats it?
Species recorded in published studies and collections.
Recorded prey of the great barracuda
The 24 best supported of 95 on record
- Sardine Harengula clupeola6 sources
- Cola Ocyurus chrysurus5 sources
- Ajargo Diodon holocanthus5 sources
- Sardine Harengula humeralis5 sources
- Snakefish Synodus intermedius5 sources
- Bristle herring Atherinomorus stipes5 sources
- Barber Acanthurus bahianus4 sources
- Southern sennet Sphyraena picudilla4 sources
- Bar jack Caranx ruber4 sources
- Chain moray Echidna catenata4 sources
- Rainbow Scarus guacamaia4 sources
- Gutong Scarus iseri4 sources
Show 12 more
- Gutong Sparisoma aurofrenatum4 sources
- Kwab Sparisoma chrysopterum4 sources
- Redfin parrot Sparisoma rubripinne4 sources
- Moontail Sparisoma viride4 sources
- Cabali Caranx latus4 sources
- Herring Opisthonema oglinum4 sources
- Caribbean toby Canthigaster rostrata4 sources
- Grunt Haemulon album4 sources
- Seize Haemulon aurolineatum4 sources
- Black grunt Haemulon carbonarium4 sources
- French grunt Haemulon flavolineatum4 sources
- Spanish grunt Haemulon macrostomum4 sources
Recorded predators of the great barracuda
5 on record
- Silky shark Carcharhinus falciformis5 sources
- Tiger shark Galeocerdo cuvier4 sources
- Hammerhead shark Sphyrna lewini4 sources
- Sand shark Carcharhinus plumbeus2 sources
- Silk Lutjanus griseus2 sources
Each pair is recorded by at least two independent datasets. A record shows the animal was seen or found to have eaten the other, including scavenged carcasses and young animals; it does not say how often. Compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (CC0 1.0).
References for these records
- FishBase
- Jordi Bascompte, Carlos J. Melián, and Enric Sala Interaction strength combinations and the overfishing of a marine food web PNAS 2005 102: 5443-5447.
- J. Bascompte, C. J. Melián and E. Sala (2005). Interaction strength combinations and the overfishing of a marine food web. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 102: 5443-5447.
- Globi
- Opitz (1996)
- Roopnarine 2013
- Raul Osorno. 1992. Aspectos biologicos de los tiburones capturados en las costas de Tamaulipas y Veracruz, Mexico.
- Eugenie Clark, Catherine von Schmidt. 1965. Sharks of the Central Gulf Coast of Florida
- William Longley, Samuel Hildebrand, William Longley, Samuel Hildebrand. 1941. Systematic catalog of the fishes of Tortugas Florida.
Photos of the great barracuda
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the great barracuda live?
Not recorded
What is the great barracuda?
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.
From the Wikipedia article “Great barracuda” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_barracuda&oldid=1374591270), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the great barracuda endangered?
The great barracuda is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the great barracuda classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- familySphyraenidae
- genusSphyraena
- SpeciesSphyraena barracuda (Edwards, 1771)
Synonyms Agrioposphyraena barracuda, Esox barracuda, Esox barracuda, Sphyraena affinis, Sphyraena agam, Sphyraena baracuda, Sphyraena barracuda, Sphyraena becuna, Sphyraena commersoni, Sphyraena commersonii, Sphyraena dussumieri, Sphyraena picuda, Sphyraena sphyraena picuda, Syphyraena barracuda
Other names and names in other languages (66)
- BarraEnglish
- BarraEnglish
- BarracudaEnglish
- Commerson's sea pikeEnglish
- Commerson's sea pikeEnglish
- Great Barra CudaEnglish
- Short barracudaEnglish
- Short barracudaEnglish
- Striped SeapikeEnglish
- Striped SeapikeEnglish
- kaddArabic
- alucal
- serawcal
- picúa corsariaGerman
- amerikanischer pfeilhechtGerman
- PicuaSpanish
- barracudaSpanish
- BecunaSpanish
- picúaSpanish
- Picua BravaSpanish
- Picúa ZorraSpanish
- PicudaSpanish
- Picuda BarracudaSpanish
- Picuda BravaSpanish
- Picús CorsariaSpanish
- PicúuaSpanish
- Picúua BravaSpanish
- BècuneFrench
- BarracoudaFrench
- BarracoutaFrench
- barrcoudaFrench
- BéchineFrench
- BrisureFrench
- Brochet de merFrench
- Grand barracudaFrench
- Grande béchineFrench
- kakuHawaiian
- kupalaHawaiian
- オニカマスJapanese
- Oni-kamasuJapanese
- kuculMalay
- tenakMalay
- snoekDutch
- PikuPapiamento
- PicoedaPapiamento
- chaiPalauan
- BacudaPortuguese
- Barracuda BicudaPortuguese
- BicudaPortuguese
- Bicuda-cachorraPortuguese
- Bicuda-de-corsoPortuguese
- Bicuda-gigantePortuguese
- CaramaPortuguese
- CaranaPortuguese
- CoramaPortuguese
- GavianaPortuguese
- GoiranaPortuguese
- GuaranaPortuguese
- PescadaPortuguese
- onoray
- zub-saalimSomali
- 大魣Chinese
- 巴拉庫答Chinese
- 巴拉金梭魚Chinese
- 竹梭Chinese
- 金梭Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaITISTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the great barracuda
Other species in the same genus Sphyraena.
Barracuda
Sphyraena sphyraena
Sea pike
Sphyraena jello
Yellowtail barracuda
Sphyraena flavicauda
Dingo fish
Sphyraena obtusata
Barracuda
Sphyraena viridensis
Barracuda
Sphyraena argentea
CompareGreat barracuda vs BarracudaGreat barracuda vs Sea pikeGreat barracuda vs Yellowtail barracudaGreat barracuda vs Dingo fish
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
How big is the great barracuda?
The great barracuda reaches a body length of up to 1.7 m.
How heavy is the great barracuda?
An adult Great barracuda weighs up to 44 kg.
Is the great barracuda endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
What kind of animal is the great barracuda?
The great barracuda is a bony fish in the family Sphyraenidae and the order Perciformes.
What is the scientific name of the great barracuda?
Its scientific name is Sphyraena barracuda, in the genus Sphyraena.
What other names does the great barracuda have?
Other English names include Barra, Barracuda, Striped Seapike, Short barracuda and Great Barra Cuda.
What eats the great barracuda?
Animals recorded preying on the great barracuda include silky shark, tiger shark, hammerhead shark and sand shark. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.
Which animals does the great barracuda eat?
Animals recorded as prey of the great barracuda include sardine, cola, ajargo and sardine. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products · CC0 1.0 · 0.11
Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference. - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-barracuda
“Great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-barracuda.
@misc{great_barracuda_2026,
title = {Great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/great-barracuda},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}