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Sphyraena afra Peters, 1844

Guinean barracuda
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Sphyraena afra   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Sphyraena afra (Guinean barracuda)
Sphyraena afra
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Carangaria/misc (Various families in series Carangaria) > Sphyraenidae (Barracudas)
Etymology: Sphyraena: Greek, sphyraina, -es = the name of a fish (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Peters.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; pelagic-neritic; depth range 0 - 75 m (Ref. 6949). Tropical; 21°N - 23°S, 19°W - 15°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Eastern Atlantic: Senegal to Namibia (Ref. 57401). Also reported from Mauritania (Ref. 5377).

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 87.0  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 205 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 57401); common length : 100.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 26999); max. published weight: 50.0 kg (Ref. 57401)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 6; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 9. Diagnosis: 122-140 (generally 125-132) scales in lateral line (Ref. 57401). Sides marked with about 20 dark, largely backwards open chevrons (Ref. 57401), which become less distinct in large specimens (Ref. 5491).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Commonly enters lagoons and estuaries (Ref. 4339, 57401). Found on the continental shelf (Ref. 36731). Feeds on fish and shrimps (Ref. 28587). Never reported to be ciguatoxic. Good food and recreational value.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Daget, J., 2003. Sphyraenidae. p. 612-615 In C. Lévêque, D. Paugy and G.G. Teugels (eds.) Faune des poissons d'eaux douce et saumâtres de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, Tome 2. Coll. Faune et Flore tropicales 40. Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgique, Museum National d'Histoire Naturalle, Paris, France and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Paris, France. 815 p. (Ref. 57401)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 14 July 2014

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Traumatogenic (Ref. 4537)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
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Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
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Abundance
Life cycle
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Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
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Genetics
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References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 22.6 - 28, mean 26.3 °C (based on 84 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5000   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00692 (0.00439 - 0.01091), b=2.90 (2.77 - 3.03), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.1   ±0.70 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Very Low, minimum population doubling time more than 14 years (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Medium.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 25.1 [11.3, 65.4] mg/100g; Iron = 0.451 [0.213, 0.973] mg/100g; Protein = 20.1 [18.1, 21.8] %; Omega3 = 0.134 [0.058, 0.318] g/100g; Selenium = 55.4 [22.0, 149.4] μg/100g; VitaminA = 5.33 [1.07, 29.15] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.567 [0.349, 0.982] mg/100g (wet weight);