View source for Yellowtail barracuda

{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox | name = Yellowtail barracuda
| image = Sphyraena flavicauda.JPG
| image2 = Yellowtail barracuda.JPG
| image2_caption = Juveniles schooling, [[Dahab]]
| taxon = Sphyraena flavicauda
| authority = [[Eduard Rüppell|Rüppell]], 1838
| synonyms = * ''Sphyraena langsar'' <small>(Rüppell, 1838)</small>
* ''Sphyraenella flavicauda'' <small>Bleeker, 1855</small>
| synonyms_ref =  <ref name = Fishbase2>{{cite web | url = http://www.fishbase.org/Nomenclature/SynonymsList.php?ID=7937&SynCode=32588&GenusName=Sphyraena&SpeciesName=flavicauda| title = Synonyms of ''Sphyraena flavicauda'' Rüppell, 1838 | access-date = 16 January 2017 | publisher = Fishbase.org}}</ref>
| range_map = Yellowtail Barracuda.jpg
}}
The '''yellowtail barracuda''' ('''''Sphyraena flavicauda''''') is one of the smaller species of [[barracuda]] of the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Sphyraenidae]], which can be found in [[Indo-Pacific|Indo-West Pacific]] oceans. It has also invaded the Mediterranean through the [[Suez Canal]] from the Red Sea, making it one of the [[Lessepsian migration|Lessepsian migrants]].
==Description==
The yellowtail barracuda has an elongated body with two well separated [[dorsal fin]]s. The anterior dorsal fin has five spines with the first spine being the longest. The origin of the second dorsal fin is positioned slightly in front of that of the [[anal fin]]. The [[pelvic fin]] is located below the tip of the [[pectoral fin]], which in turn is positioned in front of the origin of the anterior dorsal fin.
The large head is slightly flattened towards the rear and bears a large eye, pointed snout and long jaws, with a [[prognathism|prognathic]] lower jaw. In the front of the upper jaw there are several fang-like teeth, then 4–5 sharp teeth which form a single row on the [[palatine bone|palatine]] followed by a single row of smaller teeth on [[premaxilla]]. The lower jaw has a single large canine-like tooth at its apex followed by a row of smaller sharp teeth along the each side of the jaw.
The yellowtail barracuda is grey in colour on the back with a countershaded pattern of a white underside, though occasionally the flanks show a yellow tint. The tail is yellow with black margins.
Yellowtail barracudas can grow to {{convert|60|cm|in|0}} but {{convert|35–40|cm|in|0}} is normal.<ref name="ciesm">Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (<i>Sphyraena flavicauda</i>). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_2nd_edition/Sphyraena_flavicauda.pdf</ref>
==Distribution==
The yellowtail barracuda is found from the Red Sea east through the Indian and Pacific Oceans to [[Samoa]], its northern limit is the [[Ryukyu Islands]] and its southern is on the [[Great Barrier Reef]].<ref name = Fishbase>{{cite web | url = http://www.fishbase.org/summary/7937 | title = ''Sphyraena flavicauda'' Rüppell, 1838 | access-date = 16 January 2017 | publisher = Fishbase.org}}</ref> First recorded in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] off [[Israel]] in 1991,<ref name="Galil-2007">{{cite journal | last=Galil | first=Bella | title=Seeing Red: Alien species along the Mediterranean coast of Israel | journal=[[Aquatic Invasions]] | publisher=[[Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre]] (REABIC) | volume=2 | issue=4 | year=2007 | issn=1818-5487 | doi=10.3391/ai.2007.2.4.2 | pages=281–312 | s2cid=38933130| doi-access=free }}</ref> it is now extending to the whole eastern Basin.<ref name="Molnar-et-al-2008">{{cite journal | last1=Molnar | first1=Jennifer L | last2=Gamboa | first2=Rebecca L | last3=Revenga | first3=Carmen | last4=Spalding | first4=Mark D | title=Assessing the global threat of invasive species to marine biodiversity | journal=[[Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment]] | publisher=[[Ecological Society of America]] ([[Wiley-Blackwell|Wiley]]) | volume=6 | issue=9 | year=2008 | issn=1540-9295 | doi=10.1890/070064 | pages=485–492 | s2cid=84918861}}</ref><ref name = Corsini>{{cite journal | author1 = Maria Corsini  | author2 = Panagiotis Margies | author3 = Gerasimos Kondilatos | author4 = Panos S. Economidis | year = 2005 | title = Lessepsian migration of fishes to the Aegean Sea: First record of ''Tylerius spinosissimus'' (Tetraodontidae) from the Mediterranean, and six more fish records from Rhodes | url = http://elnais.hcmr.gr/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Corsini-et-al-2005-LessepsCybium.pdf | journal = Cybium | volume = 29 | issue = 4 | pages = 347–354}}</ref> It is established but still relatively rare in the Mediterranean but its true status may be obscured by confusion with sympatric congeners,<ref name = ciesm/> although both the yellowtail barracuda and ''[[Sphyraena chrysotaenia]]'' were found to be common off the coast of [[Libya]].<ref name = MMS>{{cite journal | author = H. Bazairi | display-authors = etal | year = 2013 | title = Alien marine species of Libya: first inventory and new records in El-Kouf National Park (Cyrenaica) and the neighbouring areas | url = http://www.medit-mar-sc.net/index.php/marine/article/view/555 | journal = Mediterranean Marine Science | volume = 14 | issue = 2 | pages = 421–462| doi = 10.12681/mms.555 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
==Biology==
Yellowtail barracudas school by day in lagoons, inner and outer reef slopes and is probably a nocturnal hunter of fish and large invertebrates. Their eggs and fry are planktonic while the juveniles shelter in very sheltered coastal waters.<ref name = Randall>{{cite book | author = John E. Randall | year = 1995 | title = Coastal Fishes of Oman | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | page = 367}}</ref><ref name = ciesm/><ref name = WTFish>{{cite web | url = http://www.whatsthatfish.com/fish/yellowtail-barracuda/1925 | title = Yellowtail Barracuda (''Sphyraena flavicauda'') | access-date = 16 January 2017 | publisher = Whatsthatfish}}</ref> The adults attain a maximum age of six years old.<ref name = Rim>{{cite journal | author1 = Azza El Ganainy | author2 = Amal Amin | author3 = Abdallah Ali |author4 = Hanan Osman | year = 2016 | title = Age and growth of two barracuda species ''Sphyraena chrysotaenia'' and ''S. flavicauda'' (Family: Sphyraenidae) from the Gulf of Suez, Egypt | journal = The Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research | volume = 43 | issue = 1 | pages = 75–81 | doi=10.1016/j.ejar.2016.09.002| doi-access = free }}</ref> In Australia the yellowtail barracuda was found to be a host to the parasitic ''[[Floriceps minacanthus]]''  (a [[tapeworm]])<ref name="BeveridgeBray2014">{{cite journal|last1=Beveridge|first1=Ian|last2=Bray|first2=Rodney A.|last3=Cribb|first3=Thomas H.|last4=Justine|first4=Jean-Lou|title=Diversity of trypanorhynch metacestodes in teleost fishes from coral reefs off eastern Australia and New Caledonia|journal=Parasite|volume=21|year=2014|pages=60|doi=10.1051/parasite/2014060|pmid=25402635|pmc=4234045|url=}} {{open access}}</ref> while the ectoparasite ''[[Diplectanum cazauxi]]'' (a [[monogenean]]) has been found on the gills of a number of barracuda species, including the yellowtail barracuda.<ref name = Parasitology>{{cite journal | author1 = Delane C Kritsky | author2 = M F Agustin Jimenez-Ruiz | author3 = Otto Sey | year = 2000 | title = Diplectanids (Monogenoidea: Dactylogyridea) from the Gills of Marine Fishes of the Persian Gulf off Kuwait | url = http://science.peru.edu/COPA/COPA_V67_N2_2000I.pdf | journal = Comparative Parasitology | volume =  67 | issue = 2 | pages = 145–164}}</ref> Another known ectoparasite of the yellowtail barracuda is the ''[[Caligus inopinatus]]'' (a [[copepod]]).<ref name = WoRMS>{{cite web | url = http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=212051 | title = ''Sphyraena flavicauda'' Rüppell, 1838 | access-date = 17 January 2017 | publisher = World Register of Marine Species|year = 2008 | author = Nicolas Bailly}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{sealifephotos|212051}}
{{taxonbar|from=Q2457841}}
[[Category:Fish of Thailand]]
[[Category:Sphyraenidae]]
[[Category:Fish of the Red Sea]]
[[Category:Fish described in 1838]]