Sphyraena

A barracuda is a large, predatory, ray-finned, saltwater fish of the genus Sphyraena, the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. It is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide ranging from the eastern border of the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, on its western border the Caribbean Sea, and in tropical areas of the Pacific Ocean. Barracudas reside near the top of the water and near coral reefs and sea grasses. Barracudas are often targeted by sport-fishing enthusiasts.

Sphyraena

Uncredited · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
barracudaPBDB
Sits inside
SphyraenidaePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes

Time the record covers

At least 65 million years on record.

The record covers at least 66 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 72.2 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 1 of 136 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 136 occurrencesEocene — about 50 of 136 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 11 of 136 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 52 of 136 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 7 of 136 occurrencesPleistocene — about 10 of 136 occurrences74–71 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences71–69 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences69–66 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences66–64 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 2 occurrences54–52 Mya — about 3 occurrences52–49 Mya — about 3 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 4 occurrences47–44 Mya — about 5 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 5 occurrences42–39 Mya — about 5 occurrences39–37 Mya — about 8 occurrences37–34 Mya — about 13 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 5 occurrences32–29 Mya — about 4 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 2 occurrences25–22 Mya — about 3 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 6 occurrences20–17 Mya — about 9 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 11 occurrences15–12 Mya — about 13 occurrences12–9.8 Mya — about 5 occurrences9.8–7.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences7.4–4.9 Mya — about 4 occurrences4.9–2.5 Mya — about 6 occurrences2.5–0 Mya — about 14 occurrences66 Mya11.7 ka74 Mya0 Mya

136 occurrences of Sphyraena on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

136 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

64 formations

Lagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.28°WLagos-Portimão — 37.12°N, 8.54°WLagos-Portimão — 37.08°N, 8.67°WTallahatta — 31.38°N, 86.67°WTallahatta — 31.31°N, 88.73°WTallahatta — 31.57°N, 88.34°WTallahatta — 31.79°N, 88.32°WTallahatta — 31.37°N, 86.52°WMount Hillaby — 13.19°N, 59.47°WMount Hillaby — 13.21°N, 59.59°WYazoo — 31.66°N, 92.90°WYazoo — 31.82°N, 92.33°WYazoo — 31.93°N, 91.94°WPirabas — 1.18°S, 47.22°WPirabas — 0.48°S, 48.17°WHrušky — 48.81°N, 16.63°EGosport Sand — 31.50°N, 87.80°WGosport Sand — 31.50°N, 88.50°WGosport Sand — 31.59°N, 88.02°WBissex Hill — 13.22°N, 59.55°WDammam — 25.23°N, 50.83°EDammam — 25.43°N, 50.80°ELisbon — 31.36°N, 86.52°WRosarito Beach — 32.12°N, 116.80°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WMoodys Branch — 32.23°N, 92.15°WMoodys Branch — 32.90°N, 90.19°WAmeki — 5.00°N, 7.50°EAmeki — 5.56°N, 7.52°ESamlat — 23.36°N, 16.03°WLuanda — 8.76°S, 13.30°ELondon Clay — 51.40°N, 0.83°ELondon Clay — 50.78°N, 0.65°WCalvert — 38.16°N, 76.83°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.90°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WCastilletes — 11.85°N, 71.36°WCodrington College — 13.19°N, 59.47°WAshley — 32.95°N, 80.18°WAshley — 32.97°N, 80.20°WEarnley — 51.08°N, 1.17°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.80°W

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The named rock units Sphyraena has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 40 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 32 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Sphyraena and its relatives

Miocene

Where Sphyraena and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

3,227 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 115 sites for Sphyraena, and this reads all of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

92 references

Each of the 136 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 80 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Sphyraena

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Sphyraena sphyraena · UF:Fish:137529

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSphyraenidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Artedi 1793