Sphyraena borealis
Northern Sennet
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Sphyraenidae (Barracudas)
Sphyraena
Sphyraena borealis (Northern Sennet)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Fleshy tip on lower jaw, moderately large mouth, short pectoral fins, long and slightly pointed snout, flat to nearly flat interorbital region, maxilla falls short of anterior margin of eye. Upper jaw has large, moderately compressed canines on side of symphysis and a band of small, compressed, vertically oriented teeth along margin. Lower jaw has large, moderately compressed canines on side of symphysis and a band of large, compressed, vertically oriented round canines along margin. Palatine has a row of large, slightly compressed canine teeth. Gill rakers absent on first arch. Measurements (% SL): head length 29%–31%, snout length 13%–14%, eye diameter 4%–5%, upper jaw length 11%–12%, pectoral fin length 8%–10%, body depth 11%–12%. Pectoral fin has 11 or 12 rays. First dorsal fin originates above or slightly anterior to pelvic fin base. Second dorsal fin has one spine and 8 or 9 rays. Anal fin has one or two spines and 8 or 9 rays. Caudal fin has 17 principal rays and 9 procurrent dorsal and 9 procurrent ventral rays. Small cycloid scales cover sides of head and body. Lateral line scales number 115 to 135.
Olive brown dorsally and silvery ventrally. Second dorsal fin and anal, pelvic, and caudal fins often yellowish. Juveniles have dusky blotches along upper flank and along lateral line.
Distribution
Western Atlantic over continental and insular shelves from southern Nova Scotia and Bermuda to Panama, including the entire Gulf of Mexico.
Habitat Associations
Continental shelf, warm temperate seas
Biology
Maximum known size is 460 mm TL
Spawning occurs on the continental shelf in spring. Eggs and larvae are pelagic.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2013-01-29. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
References
Bigelow and Schroeder 1953
Hoese and Moore 1977, 1998
Robins and Ray 1986
Scott and Scott 1988
Ditty et al. 1999
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999
Russell 2002
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Russell, B.C. (2003) Sphyraenidae. Barracudas. p. 1807-1811. In K.E. Carpenter (ed.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals.
Patzner, R.A. (2008) Reproductive strategies of fish. pp. 311-350. In Rocha, M.J., A. Arukwe and B.G. Kapoor (eds). Fish reproduction: cytology, biology and ecology. Science Publisher, Inc. Oxford. 631 p.
Dooley, J., B. Collette, K.A. Aiken, J. Marechal, F. Pina Amargos, S. Singh-Renton and B. Russell (2015) Sphyraena borealis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T20666166A20683423.
Comments On Sphyraena borealis