Fish
Blackfin Barracuda
Sphyraena qenie
A big Indo-Pacific barracuda banded with 18 to 22 dark crossbars and finished off with dark, black-tipped fins.
Also known as swartvin- guinese
- Typical size
- Attains about 115 cm
- Habitat
- Reefs and coastal water, Indo-Pacific to Natal
The blackfin barracuda carries 18 to 22 dark crossbars that run well down below the lateral line, each usually marked with a small black dot where it meets the line. The dorsal and tail fins are dark, and the anal fin is dark except for the last ray or two, which stay white; the tail is usually deeply forked.
This is a wide-ranging Indo-Pacific species, known from the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf across the central Indian Ocean and Pacific to Mexico and Panama. Once thought to reach only the East African coast, it is now recorded as far south as Natal. It grows to around 115 cm.