Australian barracuda
Australian barracuda | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Istiophoriformes |
Family: | Sphyraenidae |
Genus: | Sphyraena |
Species: | S. novaehollandiae
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Binomial name | |
Sphyraena novaehollandiae Günther, 1860
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Synonyms[1] | |
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The Australian barracuda, arrow barracuda, Australian sea pike, sea pike, snook, or shortfin barracuda, Sphyraena novaehollandiae, is a
Description
The Australian barracuda is greenish on the back, silvery on flanks which fades to white on the belly with a greenish-yellow tail. It has the typical
Distribution
The Australian barracuda is distributed along the south coast of Australia and along the east coast to Victoria and Tasmania.[2] It has also been recorded from northern New Zealand and Kiribati with doubtful records from South Africa, the Maldives and Japan[4] but these may be the result of misidentification, confusion with related species masking the true distribution.[2]
Ecology and biology
The Australian barracuda prefers cooler inshore waters, preferring patches of seagrass
The Australian barracuda has a short spawning season which runs from November to January and February in South Australia. Most females reproduce once they have attained a length of 42 cm which length is normally reached after around 2 years old. Spawning is probably done in a series of batches. During spawning the fish are absent from their normal habitats and this is suggestive that they migrate offshore to spawn in deeper water. The females lay and average total of 375,000 eggs in a season, their fecundity increasing with their size.[4] This species can live for up to 20 years.[2]
Fisheries
The Australian barracuda is subject to a small commercial fishery in South Australia. It is a popular fish with recreational anglers in Australia.[4][3]
References
- ^ "Synonyms of Sphyraena novaehollandiae Günther, 1860". Fishbase.org. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "Snook, Sphyraena novaehollandiae Günther 1860". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
- ^ ISBN 1865131075.
- ^ a b c d Malcolm D Bertoni (1994). Fishery, Reproductive Biology, Feeding & Growth of the Snook (SPHYRAENIDAE: Sphyraena novaehollandiae) in South Australia (PDF) (Report). Fishing Research & Development Corporation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2017-01-17.