MOST DANGEROUS FISH

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 566, 19 January 1929, Page 26

MOST DANGEROUS FISH

BARRACUDA CHOSEN Not the shark, as is generally believed, says ‘’The Scientific American,” but the barracuda, a large savage pike-like fish of the tropical seas, is the world’s most dangerous fish. We read: A case is described in which a barracuda attacked a sailor of the United States Navy, who was swimming in the ocean near Panama. In that case the sailor was bitten so severely that his limb was almost torn to pieces. The barracuda is almost as large as a 12-year-old boy, and its mouth is such that any bite is likely to result in severe injury. In many other instances this fish has attacked human beings, sometimes causing death and in other cases the loss of limbs.

The barracuda is recognised by all of the natives of the Caribbean Gulf region as more apt to attack man than is the shark. This is due to fhe fact that its food-getting depends on what it sees more than on what it smells. It is attracted by any flashing object, and is likely to strike immediately. It is known, moreover, never to strike more than once. Dr. E. W. Gudger, of the American museum of Natural History, and C. M. Breder, jun., of the New York Aquarium, who have been studying the subject, are convinced that the barracuda is the most dangerous to man of all of the fish of the sea.