Military Barracuda

Sphyraena putnamae are most frequently observed in the Indo-Pacific region, consisting of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. The heaviest concentrations of the species have been found off the southeastern coast of Africa, north coast of Australia, and in the waters between east and southeast Asia. The center of diversity is likely to be found in the eastern Indian Ocean or western Pacific regions, as this is where the species was first discovered and has maintained its highest population densities. On a few occasions, Sphyraena putnamae has been sighted in other locations, such as the coast of Florida and in various locations near Central America. Sphyraena putnamae share the same habitats as many other species of Sphyraena. They normally inhabit reefs, bays, and lagoons off the coast. They do not typically live in deeper waters, as they maintain shallow depths of three to twenty meters. Sphyraena putnamae are active at night, and they usually travel in schools during the daytime.

Sphyraena putnamae is active at night, but also forms large schools during the day. Adults of the species are solitary, while juveniles are gregarious and form schools.

Prey. The diet of the sawtooth barracuda consists primarily of ray-finned fish of the families Carangidae, Engraulidae (Anchovies), and Scombridae, and, to a far lesser extent, some molluscs and crustaceans. There is a correlation between the size of the fish and its diet- smaller fish eat more crustaceans, medium-sized fish feed on molluscs and ray-finned fish, while the largest specimens feed exclusively on those fish.

Reproduction and breeding. Young barracuda drift inshore in spring, and move to deeper water in the late fall. Spawning season is from April until October off southern Florida. Most Males mature at two years of age, and most females mature at three years of age. In Sphyraena putnamae, the sex ratio observed of females:males was 1.49:1 respectively. At the age of sexual maturity, fork length, which is the measurement from the tip of the snout to the fork of the tail, was measured to be 41.33 cm for females and 40.68 cm for males. This species exhibits high fecundity, and hence a high reproductive potential, and spawn throughout the entire year. There are two main peaks of reproduction in the months of April–May being the first peak and the second peak in November through January. …