Pacific barracuda facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pacific barracuda |
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The Pacific barracuda (also called the California barracuda or silver barracuda) is a fast-swimming fish. It belongs to the barracuda family. You can find these fish in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. They live from Cabo San Lucas in Mexico up to Washington State in the USA. They like warmer waters, so they are not often seen north of Point Conception in California. These barracudas can grow to about 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) long. They can weigh around 6.8 kilograms (15 lb). The Pacific barracuda is a very popular fish for sport fishing in Southern California.
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Pacific Barracuda: Body and Looks
The Pacific barracuda has a long, thin body. It looks like a cylinder and has a long, pointed snout. Their front sides are a pale bluish or light brown color. Their backs are shiny and silver, which helps them stand out from other barracudas. They have small scales and no stripes or spots.
Like other barracudas, they have scary-looking mouths. These mouths are full of sharp, fang-like teeth. The Pacific barracuda is a predator. This means it hunts other fish. Its lower jaw sticks out, which helps it catch slippery fish. A typical Pacific barracuda weighs about 1 to 3 kilograms. It is usually about 1 to 1.1 meters long. They rarely grow longer than 1.2 meters. Pacific barracudas have a tail-fin that looks like a fork. Their two dorsal fins are far apart.
Where Pacific Barracudas Live
The Pacific barracuda lives in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. They are usually found off the West Coast of the USA. Even though they are often found far from shore, they can be seen as far north as southern Alaska. However, they are most common along the coast of California. Their range goes down to the southern tip of Baja California Sur, Guadalupe Island, and near the mouth of the Gulf of California.
In winter, Pacific barracudas travel south in large groups called shoals. They move from the American west coast to Baja California. They usually do not go much further south. But some have been seen as far south as the Pacific coast of Panamá. Adult Pacific barracudas prefer offshore waters. They often come closer to the coast. Young barracudas, however, are sometimes found in bays or lagoons. They can also live in shallow, slightly salty waters. Some barracudas have been seen swimming deep, about 37 meters (121 feet) down. Barracudas are known to swim together in schools.
How Pacific Barracudas Hunt and Behave
Pacific barracudas are predators. They act aggressively to catch and eat other small fish. They mainly eat small fish like anchovies, small Pacific mackerels, and grunions. They also eat squid, groupers, grunts, and even young barracudas.
When they swim in tight schools, they can herd their prey. They circle smaller fish in shallow waters. This helps them catch more food. Barracudas use their sharp eyesight to find prey. They follow light or sudden movements in the water. Their jaw and teeth are perfect for being fierce hunters. Their jaws also help them pump water over their gills for breathing.
Even though they are aggressive hunters of small fish, Pacific barracudas are usually harmless to other ocean creatures. They are not like the Great Barracuda. Pacific barracudas only seem violent. They will swim away if you get too close. Then they return to their schools.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Most Pacific barracudas become adults by the time they are 2 years old. A female barracuda of this age can lay about 50,000 eggs. Older female Pacific barracudas can lay even more eggs, from 200,000 to 400,000.
Like most fish, barracudas have external fertilization. This means the eggs are fertilized outside the female's body. They lay their eggs in batches over time. The parents do not care for their young. They are "pelagic spawners." This means they release their eggs into the open water. They do not guard their eggs after laying them. Pacific barracudas are known to live for about 12 years. You can tell males and females apart by their fins. Females have a dark or black edge on their pelvic fins. Males have a yellow or olive-colored edge on the same fins.
Protecting Pacific Barracudas
Pacific barracudas are very popular for sport fishing in California. In the early 1900s, many barracudas were caught by commercial fishing boats using purse seine nets. Their numbers kept going down until the 1940s. That's when California put rules in place. These rules limited the size of fish that could be caught. They also limited the fishing methods for both commercial and sport fishing.
Because of these rules, commercial fishers started using gill nets instead of purse seines. Also, barracuda is not a common food fish. Since these rules were made, the number of barracudas has grown. Their population is now stable. This stability is also partly because they lay so many eggs. Pacific barracudas are not on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. The fishing rules continue to protect them. However, because they migrate, some parts of their population might face threats. Eagles and terns are some animals that hunt Pacific barracudas.
Pacific barracuda is generally safe to eat. It is not usually a popular food fish in the US. This is because its relative, the Great Barracuda, is linked to ciguatera poisoning. To keep the meat fresh, it is recommended to bleed the fish quickly.
While rare, Pacific barracudas can sometimes cause ciguatera poisoning. This happens if the barracuda eats reef fish that have eaten certain toxic algae.
