Great barracuda Facts for Kids
Sphyraena barracuda · sfy-REE-nuh bar-uh-KOO-duh
A long, slim fish of warm shallow seas.
- 🏃 speed: not yet checked
- ⚖️ 110 lb50 kg1
- 📏 6.6 ft2 m1 long
- 🎂 18 years18 years1
- 🍽️ fish
- Doing fine (Least Concern)
A great barracuda is a long, slim fish with a pointed head. It lives in warm, shallow seas. It eats fish and squid.
Great barracudas live in warm seas around the world, mostly near the surface. They usually stay in shallow water, from just under the surface down to about thirty meters. They eat fish, squid and sometimes shrimp.
The great barracuda is a long, slim fish of warm seas. It lives in the Indian and Pacific oceans, from the Red Sea and the east coast of Africa to Hawaii, and in the Atlantic, from Massachusetts through the Caribbean to Brazil. It stays mostly near the surface, in shallow water. It eats fish, squid and sometimes shrimp.
How big is a great barracuda?
Great barracuda in numbers
| Length | 6.6 ft2 m1up to |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | no checked number yet |
| Weight | 110 lb50 kg1up to; the largest published weight |
| Top speed | no checked number yet |
| How long it lives | 18 years18 years1the longest reported |
| What it eats | fish, squid and sometimes shrimp |
| Where it lives | warm shallow seas near the surface, in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans |
| What kind | Fish |
| Is it in danger? | Doing fine (Least Concern)2 |
A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.
Wow!
- A great barracuda lives in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.
- It stays near the surface in shallow water.
- It eats fish, squid and sometimes shrimp.
Compare the great barracuda
Friends and neighbours
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Books about the great barracuda, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the great barracuda for free.
For teachers
Use this animal in class: its facts are on this page, and the cards print from it.
Where these numbers come from
- FishBase, Sphyraena barracuda (great barracuda), checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, Great barracuda (Q2306485), checked 30 October 2026.