Yellowmouth Barracuda - Sphyraena viridensis - Surrounded by the School

Yellowmouth Barracuda fill the shallow blue water at Cirkewwa Reef, Malta, surrounding the camera beneath the sunlit surface.

The Yellowmouth Barracuda (Sphyraena viridensis) has a long, slender and fusiform body with a pointed hydrodynamic snout, elongated mouth and projecting lower jaw armed with sharp canine-like teeth. Its upper body is generally dark bluish-grey to greenish and becomes paler below, while numerous distinctive dark vertical bars cross the flanks and extend below the lateral line toward the front of the body. The species is particularly well adapted to rapid swimming, with two widely separated dorsal fins and a deeply forked tail providing strong propulsion. Yellowmouth Barracuda are pelagic predators that feed mainly on fishes, together with cephalopods and crustaceans. They may occur individually but are also capable of forming large, coordinated schools around reefs, drop-offs and open coastal waters. The species occurs from the surface to around 100 metres depth and can reach approximately 128 centimetres in length. This photograph places the viewer almost inside a dense school at Cirkewwa Reef in Malta, with numerous barracudas holding close together just beneath the brightly illuminated surface.