kaku >>> great barracuda>>> (Sphyraena barracuda)
one of the most well known fish... the barracuda is one of the most adept predators of the reef... its ferocious teeth spark fear in both its prey and even among humans... there are recorded barracuda attacks, and one must especially be careful when wearing any shiny jewelry that might be mistaken for a small fish... barracuda's can be found in the open water, or in bays and harbors... they float along motionlessly until dinner swims by and then they strike with lightning quick speed and a lacerating bite... some fishermen are known to take advantage of large barracuda to "herd" opelu and akule (small baitfish) into schools so that they can be caught in large numbers... a hard working barracuda may be then given a portion of the catch as payment!!

the story... an afternoon of diving for tony, van, ryan, laurent and myself led to one of the biggest catches among our diving crew... laurent dropped down to about 20 feet when a large torpedo figure approached him... the barracuda cautiously and curiously floated into range, and laurent managed to control his nerves and calmly pulled the trigger without a flinch... the shaft entered the beast just behind his gill plate, a solid holding shot... however, a beast of this magnitude was not going down without a fight... the barracuda towed laurent around until it tired out and paused to rest on the sandy bottom... amidst the commotion van came to put a back up shot but missed!! eventually the fish was boated... upon returning to the boat tony nearly had a heart attack when he saw the size of the barracuda... it was so large it didn't fit inside of the big cooler... after testing the fish for ciguatera toxin and the results being negative, we cut up the fish, but not before we were able to get several gyotaku...