Home
>
Fish
>
Pickhandle Barracuda

Pickhandle Barracuda

Sphyraena Jello

Quick Facts

Scientific nameSphyraena Jello

Other namesDingo-fish, Giant Sea Pike, Pick-handle Barracuda, Sea Pike, Slender Sea Pike, Yellowtail Barracuda

FamilyBarracuda / Sphyraenidae

Distribution

Habitat & AU DistributionCoastal waters, estuaries & inshore reefs

The Pickhandle Barracuda is a large, torpedo-shaped fish that can grow to about 125 cm long and weigh at least 15 kg. That is roughly the length of a guitar and a half end to end.
In Australia, it is found from the central coast of Western Australia all the way around the tropical north and down to southern New South Wales. It covers a lot of ground.
Beyond Australia, the Pickhandle Barracuda ranges widely across the warm waters of the Indo-West Pacific. It is a fish of tropical and warm temperate seas.
The easiest way to recognise this species is by the bold, dark bars running down its silver sides. The bars angle differently above and below the midline, giving each one a bent or chevron shape.
Its tail fin is a useful second clue: it is largely yellow. That colour sets the Pickhandle Barracuda apart from similar-looking species in the same waters.
Pickhandle Barracudas are active by day. Adults tend to patrol alone, hunting through reefs and open water rather than moving in groups.
Young Pickhandle Barracudas behave very differently. Juveniles form schools, staying close together as they grow. As they get bigger, they leave the group behind and begin to live more solitary lives.
This powerful predator mainly hunts other fish, but it will also eat squid when the chance comes along. With few predators of its own, it sits close to the top of the reef food chain.
Pickhandle Barracudas are found near coral reefs, in bays and in estuaries, where rivers meet the sea. They also show up around current-swept lagoon edges and open seaward reefs.
Lifespan for this species is estimated at around 11 years, and populations are thought to recover slowly if numbers fall. That slow resilience makes it worth treating with some care.
There have been reports linking the Pickhandle Barracuda to ciguatera, a type of food poisoning associated with reef fish. Those reports have not yet been confirmed, but they are worth knowing about.
Compared with more heavily studied fish, detailed biological data for Australian Pickhandle Barracuda populations is limited. There is still quite a bit to learn about this species in local waters.

Species Interaction

Pickhandle Barracuda: Bycatch, Reefs and a Predator's Place

Commercial Harvest
Recreational Fishing
Snorkelling & Diving
Ecosystem Role
Research & Rare Encounters

The Pickhandle Barracuda turns up as bycatch in northern Australian prawn trawl fisheries and pelagic longline operations, though at very low rates and well below levels of concern. Recreational anglers occasionally target barracuda in tropical inshore waters, and divers encounter this species on Indo-Pacific reefs where it ranks among the more conspicuous reef predators. It is not a major commercial or recreational target in its own right.

Species
Sustainability

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Teleostei
Order: Carangaria incertae sedis
Family: Sphyraenidae
Genus: Sphyraena
Species: Sphyraena jello

Conservation Status

The Pickhandle Barracuda has not been assessed by the IUCN Red List, and it holds no listing under Australia’s EPBC Act. Its conservation status is therefore unclassified. As a wide-ranging Indo-West Pacific species it is not considered rare, but no formal population assessment has been carried out.