Yellowmouth Barracuda - Sphyraena viridensis - A Wall of Silver at Cirkewwa Reef

A tightly packed school of Yellowmouth Barracuda fills the water at Cirkewwa Reef, Malta, creating an impressive wall of streamlined silver predators.

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 mark 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 feeding mainly on fishes, together with cephalopods and crustaceans. They may occur individually but can also assemble into large, coordinated schools around reefs, drop-offs and coastal waters. The species occurs from the surface to around 100 metres depth and can reach approximately 128 centimetres in length. This photograph captures a particularly dense school at Cirkewwa Reef in Malta, with numerous barracudas travelling closely together and almost completely filling the frame, creating the impression of a moving wall of silver and blue-striped fish.