Latin name

Sphyraena guachancho

Other names

Guachanche barracuda; Spanish: picuda guaguanche; French: bécune guachanche.

Identification

Silver-olive-brown on top, it has silvery flanks with a yellow-gold band running along the middle of its body. Like other members of the barracuda family, it has an elongated body and large fangs and claws. The caudal fin is large, forked, and blackish, and the dorsal fins are widely separated. The pelvic fin starts below the point just before the first dorsal fin. Young fish have three broad bands on the back of the body that are often interrupted in the middle of each side.

Distribution

Occurs from Massachusetts to northern part of the Gulf of Mexico, southward to Brazil. Occasional in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean.

Habitat

They live in shallow and usually muddy coastal waters, including sandbanks, meadows, muddy bottoms, bays, and estuaries. It is a schooling species, forming shoals at depths of 3 to 40 feet, and can be found near the surface at night.

Size

It can grow up to 2 feet, though most often it ranges from 6 to 14 inches.

Life history and Behavior

No information

Food and feeding habits

They eat fish and shrimp.

Reproduction

No information