Sea fish barracuda is very similar to pike. Her body resembles a long cylinder covered with small scales.
Slightly pointed head with strong teeth and front fangs also looks like a pike head. Barracuda can be distinguished by a strong dorsal fin, decorated with five "rays", and well-developed lateral fins. Sfirena (as this fish is also called) is valued in some countries for very tasty meat. However, few people know that not every barracuda is edible. Fish can cause severe, indolent, but incurable poisoning. Ciguatera (poisoning) begins with severe muscle pain. Later, ulcers on the skin join them, the work of the nervous system is disturbed. The disease gives so many symptoms that not every doctor can correctly diagnose. Often ciguatera ends with the death of the patient. However, not all barracuda species are venomous. In total, there are from 20 to 26 varieties of these mullet-like predators. This is a large barracuda, silver, Japanese, yellowtail, striped, blunt, red, Australian and others.
Such different barracudas
All types of barracuda live only in the seas of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indianoceans. Ideal conditions for them - subtropical climate. The Great Barracuda is found off the coast of Central America. The fish feeds on the meat of pufferfish living among the corals. Poisonous substances accumulate in its fins, and the sfirena becomes poisonous. She calls the ciguatera. True, some sources claim that the big barracuda feeds only on tuna and sometimes even attacks bathers. The giant is often mistaken for a shark. Individuals of the Great Barracuda grow up to 300 cm. But due to their toxicity, fishermen are of little interest to them. Off the coast of Japan, East Africa, another barracuda is found. The fish (striped) is small - only up to 60 cm, but very tasty.
She is highly regarded by the Japanese. There are many representatives of the species "silver barracuda" near Mexico and Southern California. This fish is the basis of fishing in San Diego and Los Angeles. Elongated individuals with silvery-gray sides, a greenish back, dark stripes along the body and a head remotely similar to a pike sometimes enter the Black Sea from the Mediterranean. This is also a barracuda. Fish (sfirena small-scaled) lives at shallow depths, has a predatory disposition, like all its relatives. Sefirens can wait for prey in thickets or among stones, or they can attack anchovies or the like in small flocks and pursue them for a long time. At the same time, barracudas rarely gather in large flocks. Even in the Gulf of Guinea, where there are a lot of predators, they are rarely caught with a trawl, but often with the help of hooks. Barracuda meat is one of the favorites in Africa. Four types of sfirenes are found inMediterranean Sea, eight - in the Red. Fish occasionally swim into the Black Sea from the Mediterranean.
What is useful barracuda
Juicy meat loses only a fifth of its water during cooking, and almost all of the fat remains. Aromatic fish replenishes the body's reserves with polyunsaturated acids and antioxidants, dissolves cholesterol, improves clotting, and normalizes vision.
