---
title: "Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "A long, tube-shaped hunter with two sets of razor-sharp teeth that chops big fish in half."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/great-barracuda-1.webp"
published: "2026-10-11"
updated: "2026-10-11"
---
# Great Barracuda (*Sphyraena barracuda*)
> **Status**: Checked against 4 sources, listed under Sources below.
> **Tagline**: A long, tube-shaped hunter with two sets of razor-sharp teeth that chops big fish in half.
> **Soundtrack Vibe**: Mathcore & Chaotic Noise // Melt-Banana, "Vertigo Game"
> **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/1aHyai4sua3wVpg8deWCOr)
> **Vibe Match**: A great barracuda cuts prey in two with quick repeated bites and short shakes of the head. Melt-Banana's Vertigo Game works in the same short, fast bursts, each one chopped off before the next lands.
## Biological Superpowers & Stats
- **Taxonomy**: *Sphyraena barracuda*
- **Danger Level**: Medium
- **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2015-4.rlts.t190399a15603115.en))
- **Superpower**: A scissor-like bite that cuts prey in two
- **Habitat**: Nearshore reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves in tropical and subtropical seas
- **Diet**: Fish such as jacks, grunts, snappers and mullets
- **Tags**: fish, ocean, coral-reef, predator
## Natural History & Behavior
## Scissors with fins
The great barracuda is a long, tube-shaped fish with a pointed snout filled with two rows of teeth. It has two sets of teeth: a row of small razor-sharp ones along the outside of the jaw, and a larger set of dagger-like teeth inside them. Larger prey is cut into pieces to be swallowed separately. In a study that filmed barracuda biting, the fish hit prey at the corner of the mouth, and quick repeated bites with short head shakes cut the prey in two. Large teeth on a bone at the back of the jaw work against the lower jaw like the blades of scissors, and predicted bite force at the corner of the mouth reached as high as 58 newtons in large fish.
> **Built for speed**
> The great barracuda's body plan is designed for speed, and the top speed of the species is estimated at up to 36 mph (58 km/h).
## A sight hunter
Barracuda are generally active by day and find prey largely by sight. They are opportunistic, feeding at any depth in the water. The menu includes jacks, grunts, groupers, snappers, small tunas and mullets, and a large gape and very sharp teeth let them feed on big fish by chopping them in half. They tend to be solitary, though small groups sometimes gather over reefs and sandy bottoms. Young fish grow up among mangroves and seagrass, then move to deeper reefs in their second year.
## Up to two meters long
The Florida Museum gives the hook-and-line record as a fish 1.7 meters (5.5 feet) long and 44 kg (103 lb), and says the species is reported to reach 2 meters and 50 kg. FishBase lists a maximum of 200 cm total length and calls 140 cm common. Scale analysis of large specimens shows they live at least 14 years. Great barracuda live in nearshore tropical and subtropical seas worldwide: the western Atlantic from Massachusetts to Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean, the eastern Atlantic, the Indo-Pacific and the Red Sea. The IUCN rates the species Least Concern.
## Poison on the menu
Ciguatera is an illness linked to toxins made by tiny marine dinoflagellates that grow attached to marine algae. Plant-eating fish may swallow them by accident, and large fish-eating reef fish at the top of the food chain become reservoirs for the highest amounts of toxin. The Florida Museum says the great barracuda has been tied to ciguatera cases in parts of its range, while FishBase notes it has not been reported as poisonous in the eastern Atlantic.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### How big does a great barracuda get?
The species is reported to reach 2 meters and 50 kg. The hook-and-line record measured 1.7 meters (5.5 feet) and weighed 44 kg (103 lb), and any barracuda over 1.5 meters counts as very large. *(Source: [Florida Museum of Natural History, Discover Fishes]())*
### Do great barracuda attack people?
Attacks are rare, and so are deaths. When one happens, it is more often than not because the fish is trying to steal a catch from a spearfisher or has mistaken a shiny object, such as a diving knife, for a glinting fish. It usually comes as one very quick strike. *(Source: [Florida Museum of Natural History, Discover Fishes]())*
### How does a barracuda cut its prey in two?
High-speed video in one study showed it takes prey at the corner of its mouth, where rapid repeated bites and short sideways head shakes cut the prey in two. At the rear of the jaws, a sturdy bone set with big dagger-like teeth meets the lower jaw in a scissor-like bite. The study predicted bite force at the jaw's corner as high as 58 newtons in large fish. *(Source: [Grubich, Rice & Westneat 2008]())*
## Sources
1. [Great Barracuda. Florida Museum of Natural History, Discover Fishes.]()
2. [Sphyraena barracuda summary page. FishBase.]()
3. [Grubich, Rice & Westneat (2008). Functional morphology of bite mechanics in the great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda). Zoology.]()
4. [Aiken et al. (2015). Sphyraena barracuda. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T190399A115319634.]()
*Published October 11, 2026. Last updated October 11, 2026.*
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