204 



UNDERWATER GUIDE TO MARINE LIFE 



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STRIPED MULLET (fatback, jumper) : MiigU cephalus 



Size: Averages 1 foot. Up to 2 feet. 



Weight: Averages 1 pound. Up to 4 pounds. 



Distribution: Cosmopolitan in warm seas. North to Maine and Monterey, 

 south to Brazil and Chile. Also in the Sakon Sea. 



Identification: The sides are brassy or silvery with faint, dark, horizontal 

 stripes. 



Habits: Mullets prefer still, shallow water with grassy, sandy, or muddy 

 bottoms. They frequently enter brackish or salt waters. These are somewhat 

 dull fishes which grub around, head down, in mud like a bunch of chickens. 



BARRACUDAS: Family Sphyraenidae 



These fishes are impossible to mistake for anv others. The large mouth is 

 armed with very heavy, compressed teeth. There is a slim, pikelike body with a 

 huge tail. The eye is large, silvery, and appraises the swimmer with an 

 inquisitive, menacing look. The ground color is silvery. There are sometimes 

 blotches on the sides and back. The fins are dark. Barracudas are very much 

 like pike in habits. They depend on extremely fast rushes at living fish prey 

 for food, using the teeth in a slashing manner. All are powerful and voracious, 

 but most of the several species are rather small, not reaching over 18 inches 

 (the sennets and the guaguanche). Their distribution is world-wide in the 

 tropics. 



great barracltda (picuda): Sfhyraena barracuda— Figure 104 



Size: Averages 2^2 feet. Reaches 6 to 8 feet. Doubtfully reported up to 10 feet. 



Weight: Averages 5 pounds. Large at 50 pounds. Reaches 100 pounds. 



Distribution: Florida to the West Indies. 



Identification: This is the largest barracuda and is compressed compared to 

 other species. 



Habits: This very swift, predatory, shallow-water fish is undoubtedlv dan- 

 gerous under certain circumstances. It travels singly or in schools. A swimmer 

 in tropical waters can count on having one or more about him much of the 

 time, not because the fish is aggressive, but because it is curious. Barracudas 

 will approach the swimmer rather closely, but do not themselves like to be 

 approached. Frequently, if approached, they will gape, show their teeth, and 

 retreat out of sight, usually to return in a few minutes. The fish will advance 



