Pacific Baracuda by BigCatKeeper

Pacific Barracuda Author: BigCatKeeper

The Pacific barracuda is slim-bodied, has a tapered head, a long thin snout, and large canine teeth in a lower jaw that projects beyond the upper. It also has a forked tail, large eyes, and short, widely separated dorsal fins with 5 dorsal spines and 10 dorsal rays. The anal fins have 2 spines followed usually by 9 rays. Greyish-black on the back with a blue tinge, shading to silvery white on the sides and belly, it has a yellowish tail which lacks the black blotches on the sides of the body that are characteristic of other barracudas. Large females have a charcoal black edge on the pelvic and anal fins, whereas the male fins are edged in yellow or olive.

The Pacific barracuda is shorter than the great barracuda. It reportedly can grow up to 5 feet but has only been recorded to 4 feet; it rarely weighs more than 10 pounds, and though fish of about 12 pounds have been captured, most of the fish caught by anglers are much smaller. They grow to at least 11 years old, and the females grow larger than the males, with most fish over 8 pounds and all fish over 11 pounds being female. The growth rate is similar in both sexes until the fourth year of life, when the females begin to grow a bit faster. Pacific barracudas occur along the Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to Magdalena Bay, Baja California, though their common range is between Point Conception, California, and Magdalena Bay. The Pacific barracuda is the only barracuda found along the Pacific coast of North America. Pacific barracudas prefer warmer water. Only caught off of California during the spring and summer, they are caught in Mexican waters throughout the year, reflecting a northerly spring migration and a southerly fall migration. Spawning takes place off outer Baja California in the open ocean, peaking in June but extending from April to September. The eggs are pelagic and once they hatch, the young come inshore and stay in the shallow, quiet bays and coastal waters while they grow. By July, fry spawned in early spring are about 4 inches and average about 16 inches a year later. A few males spawn in their first year, and all by their second year, while most females spawn in their second year and all by their third year. When small, they travel in schools, though adults are normally solitary. They are naturally curious and attracted to shiny objects.

The Pacific barracuda feeds by sight instead of smell, and eats small anchovies, smelt, squids, and other small, schooling fish.

Pacific Barracuda created by Bigcatkeeper

Idea from Zoo Tycoon Brains Trust (Professorpaul)

Updated : August 3, 2009 by genki to fix the following:

- Cleaned up file

- Made corrections to the .uca to fix warnings that were coming up on the .uca checker

- Fixed LCID error, which can cause game crashes for some people

- Removed unneeded .wav files (was already linked to in-game sounds)

Update 8 August 2013 to add back the 2009 update info