Common Name: Big Eye Barracuda

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distribution throughout the Indo-Pacific region: from East Africa to Southeast Asia and the Marquesan and Society Islands, north to southern Japan, south to New Caledonia. In Australia recorded from Exmouth in Western Australia, across the tropical north including the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to northern New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents lagoon patch reefs and outer reef slopes in large schools during the day. Depth 6 – 300 m.

Additional Notes: Generally greenish gray dorsally and silvery below, has a large eye and small black spot at pectoral fin base. Nocturnally active feeding on fishes, squids and penaeid shrimps. Grows to 75 cms.

References: John E. Randall, Gerald R. Allen, Roger C. Steene, Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea, 2nd Edition, 1997. Published by Crawford House Publishing Pty Ltd. p.292.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Sphyraena+forsteri. Accessed 09/07/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Sphyraena-forsteri.html. Accessed 09/07/18.