Oder Perciformes Family Sphyraenidae(Barracudas) Pickhandle barracuda Sphyraena jello(Cuvier, 1829). 150 cm TL Dorsal spines (total): 6; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 7 - 9. LLP/139-140
Distribution; Indo-West Pacific/Red Sea south to the southeastern coast of South Africa and east to New Caledonia and Vanuatu. Recently reported from Tonga. Due to a widespread confusion with Sphyraena putnamae and Sphyraena qenie, the exact range is uncertain. Gereral; Body with dark bars crossing lateral line, each bar oblique in upper half, but nearly vertical in lower half. The pickhandle barracuda(Sphyraena jello) is so called because the dark marks along its sides look like the thick ends of pickaxe handles. These dark markings fade with the preservation. Characterized further by having rounded corner of preopercle, without projecting flap; erect teeth; maxilla reaching below anterior edge of eye; moderate size of eye; origin of first dorsal fin slightly behind origin of pelvic fins; deeply forked caudal fin without inner lobes; lateral line scales 139-140; absence of gill rakers(rough platelets on lower limb of first arch, no spinules). Caudal fin largely yellowish. Found near prominent current-swept lagoon or seaward reefs also in bays, estuaries and turbid inner lagoons. Diurnal and solitary, although the young form schools. Feeds mainly on fishes but also takes squid. Sold fresh, frozen or dried salted. Reports of ciguatera poisoning need confirmation.
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