- Animals
- ›Chordates
- ›Vertebrates
- ›Ray-finned Fishes
- ›Spiny-rayed fishes
- ›Jacks, Flounders, Barracudas, and Allies
- ›Snooks, Barracudas, and Allies
- ›Barracudas
- ›Sphyraena
Pickhandle Barracuda
Sphyraena jello
The pickhandle barracuda (Sphyraena jello) is a species of barracuda found throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Its common name derives from the dark marks along its sides, which look like the thick ends of pickaxe handles. Sea anglers sometimes colloquially shorten the name to "pick". Other common names for the species include banded barracuda, yellowtail barracuda, and sea pike.
From the article Pickhandle barracuda on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
The silver body of the pickhandle barracuda is outlined with approximately 20 wavy bars along the body of the fish, along with the dark marks. These dark markings fade under preservation. The tail fin is yellow in colour. Like many other barracuda, the jaws have an underbite. It has been shown that Sphyraena jello feeds after releasing its gonads to spawn. This release creates space for the stomach to magnify its capacity for appropriate feeding. S. jello spawns in the Persian Gulf in October and November.
Wikipedia: “Morphology and biology”
Range & habitat
The pickhandle barracuda can be found in many locations throughout the Pacific Ocean. They can usually be found in schools swimming in the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean, particularly around coral reefs. However, during the night the pickhandle barracuda begin to hunt. These fish can be found at many depths ranging from 2–200 meters.
== References ==
Wikipedia: “Distribution and habitat”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Sphyraena jello in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 47256.