Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Creature Feature #48: Barracuda


This elongated, ray-finned fish comes equipped with a mighty array of teeth, and a reputation to match. He can reach over 2 metres long and will eat anything fleshy that he can catch - biting smaller fishies in half and ripping chunks from larger prey. He is also a carrior eater, and may mistaken humans for large aquatic fish, trailing them in the hope that they will make a kill. Actual attacks on humans are rare, but barracuda are attracted to shiny things - they remind them of fish scales - and may be inclined to take a bite out of a ring finger, should it flash silver at them. Therefore care must be taken when swimming in mangrove swamps or the ocean, if barracuda are present.

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