Blackspot Barracuda, Sphyraena forsteri Cuvier 1829
Blackspot Barracuda, Sphyraena forsteri, at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, November 2014. Source: Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
A bluish-grey barracuda becoming silvery grey on the sides and below, with a very large eye, a dark blotch in the pectoral-fin axil, white tips on the second dorsal and anal fins, and no obvious bars or stripes along the side.
Blackspot Barracuda, Sphyraena forsteri Cuvier 1829
More Info
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Distribution |
Port Hedland, Western Australia, to Lindeman Island, Queensland, and possibly further south to the Solitary Islands, New South Wales. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the tropical and sub-tropical Indo-west-central Pacific. Nocturnally active, forming large schools over lagoon patch reefs and along outer reef slopes during the day. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin VI,9; Anal fin II,9; Pectoral fin 14-15; Lateral-line scales 112-133. Eye very large; corner of preopercle rounded, with no projecting flap; maxilla (upper jaw) almost or just reaching to below anterior margin of eye; teeth closely spaced, posterior teeth in lower jaw angled backwards; gill rakers absent, first gill arch with platelets, each with distinct spines. First dorsal-fin origin slightly posterior to origin of pelvic-fin origin; pectoral fin reaching beyond first dorsal-fin origin of first dorsal fin; caudal fin forked with a small inner lobe on each major lobe. |
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Size |
To 65 cm TL. |
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Fisheries |
Of no interest to fisheries in Australia. Possibly taken by recreational fishermen trolling lures. |
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Conservation |
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Etymology |
Named in honour of Johann Reinhold Forster, naturalist aboard Captain Cook’s second voyage on HMS Resolution. Forster created the illustration from which the species was described. |
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Species Citation |
Sphyraena forsteri Cuvier, in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1829, Historie naturelle des poissons 3: 353. Type locality: New Guinea (Neotype; originally described from an illustration of a specimen from Tahiti.) |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. & Schultz, S. 2022 |
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Resources |
Blackspot Barracuda, Sphyraena forsteri Cuvier 1829
References
Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.
Cuvier, G.L. in Cuvier, G.L. & Valenciennes, A. 1829. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : Levrault Vol. 3 500 pp., pls 41-71. See ref at BHL
Gloerfelt-Tarp, T. & Kailola, P.J. 1984. Trawled Fishes of Southern Indonesia and Northwest Australia. Jakarta : Dir. Gen. Fish. (Indonesia), German Tech. Coop., Aust. Dev. Ass. Bur. 406 pp.
Gomon, M.F. 2008. Families Sphyraenidae to Centrolophidae. pp. 774-800 in Gomon, M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H. (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp.
Hutchins, J.B. 2003. Checklist of marine fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. pp. 453-478 in Wells, F.E., Walker, D.I., & Jones, D.S. (eds). Proceedings of the Eleventh International Marine Biological Workshop: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum.
Kuiter, R.H. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls.
Morishita, S., Miki, R., Wada, H., Itou, M. & Motomura, H. 2020. Morphological comparisons of Sphyraena qenie with S. putnamae, with a revised key to Indo‑Pacific species of Sphyraena lacking gill rakers (Sphyraenidae). Ichthyological Research 67: 456-463
Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.
Russell, B.C. & Houston, W. 1989. Offshore fishes of the Arafura Sea. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 6(1): 69-84
Sainsbury, K.J., Kailola, P.J. & Leyland, G.G. 1984. Continental Shelf Fishes of Northern and North-Western Australia. Canberra : Fisheries Information Service 375 pp. figs & pls.
Senou, H. 2001. Sphyraenidae. pp. 3685-3697 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds) The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218.
