Sharon Larson, age 12, of Spokane, Washington, for her question:
What is a barracuda?
When somebody hollers "Couter" in the West Indies, terrified swimmers scramble for the shore. They fear the barracuda more than they fear a deadly shark. He may be a smaller fish, but his speed and his strength, his cunning and ferocious nature make him one of the most dangerous creatures of the sea. The terror of the West Indies is the great barracuda, alias the tiger of the sea. This monster lurks in all the world's tropical seas and often ventures far into cooler oceans.
It is true that some of the larger sharks often attack human swimmers in the ocean. But sometimes they are blamed for attacks that actually were made by the giant barracuda. This sneaky tiger of the sea may be eight feet long and weigh 100 pounds. His muscular body is a long, slim torpedo, gleeming with silvery scales and chevron stripes of handsome marine blue.
His long head and pointed jaws continue the long, smooth lines of his body. His black, round eyes survey his watery world with a glint of malice, and his toothy jaws convey his ferocious intentions. No wonder the great baracuda has such a bad reputation. Some suspect that he attacks any sea dweller smaller and sometimes larger than himself because he has such a huge appetite. Others who know him well suspect that he attacks without mercy because killing is his favorite occupation.
Some observers have watched his cruel, cunning, games. Sometimes he herds a school of terrified little fishes under a pier or into some shallow corner. They cannot or dare not escape, while he grabs and devours one and then another. He is a cunning brute and also very curious, especially about light or bright objects flashing and splashing near the surface. And this curiosity can lead to his downfall.
In the warm, sunny waters off Florida, fishermen dangle white rags in the water to lure him alongside, where he can be caught and scooped on board. The Maoris of New Zealand attract his attention with a piece of bright red wood fixed to a sharp spike. He can be fooled, and experts claim that it is not hard to catch him. But the tiger of the sea is a menace to swimmers. His sharp, stiletto shaped teeth are almost an inch long, and his powerful jaws are always ready to grab and snap shut.
This ferocious fellow is the giant of his family. He has about 20 smaller, less ferocious cousins, and half a dozen of these barracuda species live off the American shores. None of them are very friendly, though only the great barracuda is a serious menace. They say that in a marine aquarium even he can be trained to behave himself. But nobody in his right mind would think of going for a swim with him.