Yellowmouth Barracuda - Sphyraena viridensis - Holding Formation beside the Um El Faroud

A school of Yellowmouth Barracuda holds formation beside the Um El Faroud wreck in Malta, suspended in the blue water above the artificial reef.

The Yellowmouth Barracuda (Sphyraena viridensis) has a long, slender and fusiform body with a pointed hydrodynamic snout, elongated mouth and prominent lower jaw armed with rows of sharp canine-like teeth. The upper body is generally bluish-grey to greenish, becoming paler and more silvery below, while numerous distinctive dark vertical bars cross the upper flanks and extend below the lateral line toward the front of the body. Its two dorsal fins are widely separated and the deeply forked tail provides powerful propulsion when accelerating through open water. Yellowmouth Barracuda are pelagic predators feeding mainly on fishes, together with cephalopods and crustaceans. They may occur alone but frequently gather in schools around rocky reefs, drop-offs and underwater structures. The species occurs from the surface to about 100 metres depth and can reach approximately 128 centimetres in length. This photograph captures a school apparently holding position beside the Um El Faroud wreck in Malta, suspended together in the blue water while smaller reef fish move around the structure below.