198 
BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
74. Genus SPHYRASNA Rose. Barracudas 
The characters of the genus are included in the family description. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES 
a. Scales moderate, about 120 in a lateral series; ventral fins inserted in advance of first dorsal; 
maxillary reaching eye in adults; pectorals reaching past base of ventrals. -< 7 wac/ia?ic/io, p. 198 
aa. Scales smaller, about 135 in a lateral series; ventral fins inserted under origin of first dorsal; 
maxillary failing to reach eye; pectorals failing to reach base of ventrals borealis, p. 198 
98. Sphyrsena guachancho Cuvier and Valenciennes. Barracuda. 
Sphyrsena guachancho Cuvier and ValeneieDnes, Hist. Nat. Poiss., Ill, 1829, p.342; Havana. Jordan and Evermann, 1896- 
1900, p. 824. 
Head 3.4; depth 7.15; D. V-I, 9; A. I, 8; scales 120. Body very elongate, nearly cylindrical, 
scarcely deeper than broad at base of first dorsal; caudal peduncle moderately compressed, its 
depth 4 in head; head low, quadrate, with prominent ridges above; snout long and pointed, 2.1 in 
head; eye 6.4; interorbital 4.8; mouth large, a little oblique; lower jaw sharply pointed and strongly 
projecting; maxillary broad, reaching anterior margin of eye, 2.15 in head; teeth in the jaws and 
on palatines large, lance-shaped, the lateral ones in lower jaw smaller; gill rakers obsolete; scales 
small, present on cheeks and opercles, also extending on the second dorsal, anal, and caudal fins; 
dorsal fins far apart, the first with five slender spines, its origin behind base of ventrals; second 
dorsal short, its origin in advance of anal and about equidistant from origin of spinous dorsal and 
Fig. 112. — Sphyrsena borealis. From a specimen 9 inches long 
base of caudal; caudal fin forked, the lower lobe the longer; ventral fins rather small; pectoral fins 
small, reaching well beyond base of ventrals, 2.6 in head. 
Color bluish gray above, silvery below; dorsals and caudal dusky, other fins pale. The speci- 
men in hand is of uniform color. Some specimens, however, are irregularly blotched with black 
and the very young have black crossbars. 
A single specimen of this species, 395 millimeters (15Jdi inches) in length, was secured. 
This barracuda is reported from Woods Hole, Mass., but it does not appear to have been 
taken elsewhere north of Florida. The specimen at hand was trapped in a pound net in Lynnhaven 
Roads on July 11, 1921. The fish was unknown by the fishermen, which indicates that barracudas 
are very rare in Chesapeake Bay. This species is said to reach a length of 2 feet. In the Tropics 
it has some value as a food fish. 
Habitat . — Woods Hole, Mass., to Panama; apparently rather rare north of Florida. 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous records: None, (b) Specimen in collection: From Lynn- 
haven Roads, Va. 
99. Sphyrsena borealis DeKay. Barracuda; Northern barracuda. 
Sphyrsena borealis De Kay, Fauna, New York, Fishes, 1842, p, 39, PI. LX, fig. 196; New York. Jordanand Evermann, 1896- 
1900, p. 825; Evermann and Hildebrand, 1910, p. 160. 
This species is recorded from Chesapeake Bay by Evermann and Hildebrand (1910, p. 160), 
who had two small specimens, 1 and 3 inches in length. Bean (1891, p. 83) states that William P. 
Seal observed a Sphyrsena at Cape Charles city but secured no specimen. The species that was 
observed, therefore, was undetermined. No specimens of this barracuda occur in the present 
collection, and the fish quite certainly is very rare in Chesapeake Bay. 
