Yellowmouth Barracuda - Sphyraena viridensis - Sweeping into the Shallow Reef

A vast school of Yellowmouth Barracuda sweeps toward the shallow section of Cirkewwa Reef in Malta, filling the blue water with streamlined silhouettes.

The Yellowmouth Barracuda (Sphyraena viridensis) has a long, slender and fusiform body with a conical hydrodynamic snout, elongated mouth and projecting lower jaw armed with sharp canine-like teeth. Its upper body is generally bluish-grey to greenish and becomes paler below, while numerous distinctive dark vertical bars cross the upper flanks and extend below the lateral line toward the front of the body. The two dorsal fins are widely separated and the deeply forked tail provides powerful propulsion for rapid swimming through open water. Yellowmouth Barracuda are pelagic predators that feed mainly on fishes, together with cephalopods and crustaceans. They may occur individually but can also gather into very large coordinated schools around reefs, drop-offs and coastal waters. The species occurs from the surface to about 100 metres depth and can reach approximately 128 centimetres in length. This photograph captures an exceptionally large school sweeping toward the shallow section of Cirkewwa Reef in Malta, with barracudas approaching from several directions and filling much of the surrounding blue Mediterranean water.