In the Water: Fishes
Great barracuda
Sphyraena barracuda
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About
Great barracuda are fierce predators of the open waters surrounding Saba. Their sleek, silver, torpedo-shaped bodies are elongated and muscular, allowing them to ambush their prey in short bursts of speed that can reach 43 km/h or 27mph. (By comparison, the fastest Olympic swimmers can only reach speeds of 8 km/h or 5mph!) Despite their intimidating reputation, however, these fish don’t pose a threat to humans … except when they infrequently mistake small, shiny objects on divers for fish food.
Their pointed snouts are filled with sharp teeth, giving this fish an especially fierce look. Each tooth is so long that the species has sockets in their upper mandibles and jaws for teeth to rest inside of when their mouths are closed. They use these fang-like teeth to finish off small fish in a single bite. As for what types of fish great barracuda prefer to eat, they’re the furthest thing from picky. They’ve even been recorded eating juveniles of their own species.
The very largest of great barracuda can grow to over 1.5 m/5 feet in length, and weigh in at 45kg/100 lbs. Although they’re one of the top predators around Saba, they still take the easy path and scavenge when they can. They’ve been known to follow around larger sharks to take advantage of any chum left behind from their hunts, and even human divers have been followed by groups of barracuda, having been mistaken for large predators who might share leftovers.
Header image by @zahnerphoto (CC-BY-NC).
This species is:
Native
Why that matters:
Native species are those that evolved in the region naturally, without human influence. That means they’re specifically adapted to Saba’s habitat, and play a key role in island biodiversity. When we lose native species, gaps appear in the ecosystem. That leads to cascades of additional extinctions, and to the loss of the ecosystem services (food, clean air and water, flood and coastal protections, and more) that we humans rely on.
Credit: @zahnerphoto, iNaturalist (CC-BY-NC).
iNaturalist Observations
Where locals, researchers, and visitors have seen this species.
Google / Imagery © 2023 CNES / Airbus, Landsat / Copernicus, Maxar Technologies, U.S. Geological Survey, iNaturalist Map data @2023
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Ask a Scientist
Question: Why are islands so important?
Answer: Islands are the vanguards for what life on Earth will face next. They harbor the greatest concentration of biodiversity on our planet, and are one of our best chances to learn how interventions can stop — or even reverse — the biodiversity crisis.
Dr. Lauren Esposito
Curator of Arachnology and Islands 2030 Co-Director, California Academy of Sciences
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