Military Barracuda, Sphyraena putnamae Jordan & Seale 1907
A school of Military Barracuda, Sphyraena putnamae, at Palau. Source: Stephanie W. Batzer / Flickr. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0
A silvery-grey barracuda fading to silvery-white below, with many dark bars along the side that cross the lateral line, each bar oblique in upper half and almost vertical on the lower, and a mostly blackish caudal fin without white tips.
Military Barracuda, Sphyraena putnamae Jordan & Seale 1907
More Info
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Distribution |
Onslow, Western Australia, to Moreton Bay, Queensland. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific. Inhabits seaward reefs, bays and turbid lagoons, often forming schools during the day. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin V + I,9; Anal fin II, 7-9; Lateral line 123-136. Maxilla (upper jaw) extending to just below anterior margin of eye; gill rakers absent from first arch, upper and lower gill arch with rough platelets, each platelet without a distinct spine. Pectoral fin tip extending beyond origin of first dorsal fin; first dorsal fin origin behind pelvic fin origin; last dorsal-fin ray elongate; caudal fin forked in large adults, with a pair of lobes on the posterior margin close to midline. |
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Size |
To at least 87 cm. |
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Colour |
Grey dorsally, silvery on sides, fading to white ventrally. Numerous dark bars on sides of body. Bars oblique above lateral line, almost vertical below. Caudal fin blackish, lacking white tips. |
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Fisheries |
Of little interest to commercial fisheries in Australia. |
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Conservation |
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Species Citation |
Sphyraena putnamae Jordan & Seale 1905, Proc. Davenport Acad. Sci. (Iowa) 10: 4, Pl. 13. Type locality: Hong Kong. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. & Schultz, S. 2019 |
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Resources |
Military Barracuda, Sphyraena putnamae Jordan & Seale 1907
References
Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.
Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.
Blaber, S.J.M., Young, J.W. & Dunning, M.C. 1985. Community structure and zoogeographic affinities of the coastal fishes of the Dampier region of north-western Australia. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 36: 247-266 (as Sphyraena bleekeri)
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.
Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)
Johnson, J.W. & Gill, A.C. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of Sweers Island, Gulf of Carpentaria. Gulf of Carpentaria Scientific Study Report. Geography Monograph Series. Brisbane: Royal Geographic Society of Queensland. pp. 239-260
Jordan, D.S. & Seale, A. 1907. List of fishes collected at Hong Kong by Captain William Finch, with description of five new species. Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences 10: 1-17 pls 1-13
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.
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, T.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.
