Yellowstripe barracuda (Sphyraena chrysotaenia)

Image source: cwsoab_tonyyyyyy | inaturalist.org
General data
- Main name: Yellowstripe barracuda
- Local names: Striped Barracuda
- Climates: Tropical, Subtropical
- Habitat: Saltwater
- Native: Africa, Asia, Australia & Oceania
- Introduced: Europe
- Distribution: Mediterranean Sea, Indian ocean, Red sea
Classification
- Genus: Sphyraena - Barracudas
- Family: Sphyraenidae - Barracudas
- Order: Istiophoriformes - Barracudas
- Class: Teleostei - Ray-finned fishes
- Superclass: Osteichthyes - Bony fishes
Description
Yellowstripe barracuda is a small species of barracuda found in the Indo-West Pacific region, but present also in the Mediterranean Sea, entered from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal as a Lessepesian migrant and is now an important species in the fisheries of the eastern Mediterranean. Sphyraena chrysotaenia has a very elongated, torpedo-shaped body, typical of the barracudas, with two well-separated dorsal fins, the first dorsal fin has with five spiny rays, with the first ray being the longest, the rays then progressively decrease in size posteriorly. The second dorsal fin has its origin in front of the origin of the anal fin. The tail is markedly forked. The pectoral fin sits directly below the origin of the first dorsal fin with the pelvic fin below it. The large head is conical with a large eye, pointed snout and slightly projecting lower jaw. The jaws and palate are lines with large canine shaped teeth which vary in size. The small scales are cycloid in form and the lateral line is almost straight. The preoperculum is covered in scales and its lower posterior margin is concave. They are coloured brown-grey above and silvery below, a dusky stripe runs from the snout through centre of the eye, above the base of the pectoral fin to base of the tail, this stripe may show a yellowish tint on the head. The distal portion of first dorsal and caudal fins is blackish, the second dorsal, pectoral and base of the caudal fins are yellowish. They have been recorded up to 32 cm standard length but average 20–25 cm. Sphyraena chrysotenia has an Indo-West Pacific distribution occurring from the Red Sea and Madagascar east through the Indian Ocean to China and northern Australia. It was first recorded in the Mediterranean Sea off Palestine in 1931, and is now spreading westward, reaching Malta by 1993 and the south Adriatic Sea by 2001.