Ecology Summary - Sphyraena barracuda

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Main Ref.	Myers, R.F., 1991
Remarks	Found predominantly at or near the surface (Refs. 6949, 9773). Juveniles occur among mangroves (Also Ref. 128694), estuaries (Also Ref. 9773) and shallow sheltered inner reef areas; adults occur in a wide range of habitats from murky inner harbors to open seas. Feeds on fishes, cephalopods and sometimes on shrimps (Ref. 9626). Feeds during the day as well as at night (diurnal and nocturnal). Juveniles prefer brackishwater areas, bays and stream mouths. Piscivore (Refs. 33499, 57616, 9773). Pelagic. Forms shoals but large adults can be found in isolation. Dwells in coral reefs. Has a reputation of attacking swimmers and divers, though as of yet no reports have been made in Oman (Ref. 9773).

Main Ref.

Myers, R.F., 1991

Remarks

Found predominantly at or near the surface (Refs. 6949, 9773). Juveniles occur among mangroves (Also Ref. 128694), estuaries (Also Ref. 9773) and shallow sheltered inner reef areas; adults occur in a wide range of habitats from murky inner harbors to open seas. Feeds on fishes, cephalopods and sometimes on shrimps (Ref. 9626). Feeds during the day as well as at night (diurnal and nocturnal). Juveniles prefer brackishwater areas, bays and stream mouths. Piscivore (Refs. 33499, 57616, 9773). Pelagic. Forms shoals but large adults can be found in isolation. Dwells in coral reefs. Has a reputation of attacking swimmers and divers, though as of yet no reports have been made in Oman (Ref. 9773).

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Sphyraena barracuda may be found.

Habitat

Substrate	Pelagic;
Substrate Ref.	Al-Abdessalaam, T.Z.S., 1995
Special habitats	Beds: sea grass; Coral Reefs;
Special habitats Ref.	Nguyen, N.T. and V.Q. Nguyen, 2006

Associations

Ref.	Al-Abdessalaam, T.Z.S., 1995
Associations	solitary; shoaling;
Associated with
Association remarks	Diurnal and solitary, but can also be found in small aggregations.
Parasitism

Feeding

Feeding type	mainly animals (troph. 2.8 and up)
Feeding type Ref.	Honebrink, R., 1990
Feeding habit	hunting macrofauna (predator)
Feeding habit Ref.	Honebrink, R., 1990

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	Original sample		Unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition	4.49	0.55	4.32	0.70	Troph of juv./adults from 2 studies.
From individual food items	4.50	0.83			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.	Sierra, L.M., R. Claro and O.A. Popova, 1994

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