what are these?

what are these? at first i thought they were barracuda, but now i don't think so. mouth and fins aren't right. this was taken in Akumel, Mexico.

thanks,

elliott goldstein

If that's saltwater, then they're probably barracuda. There are great barracuda (these aren't great) and I think there are also another species in these waters (Chevron???)

Cheers

James

i think all the barracuda have 2 dorsal fins, these don't. nothing like them in my id book.

elliott

The picture is too small to say anything with comfidence but they look like mackerel to me.

I was going to say Sphyraena picudilla Southern sennet.

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSum...sname=picudilla

technically it is a type of Baracuda .. and does have 2 dorsals you wont ever see the front dorsal in a photo .. its very thin and pathetic

All Barra's and Sennet are part of the Sphyraenidea family

They looked like sennets to me also, but sennets do not have gold markings...this looks in Humann's Reef Fish ID book like Guaguanache, Sphyraena guachancho, and the locale seems appropriate.

Cheers,

Marli

i have the southern sennet in my book and the profile fits, except for the front dorsal fin. that threw me off. i don't have a pic of the guaguanache in my book but it is in the same family. thanks for the help. this was really bothering me.

elliott

They remind me of the Australian Yellowfin Pike (Dinolestes lewini) - it's very common along the east coast of Oz. Not sure if you get this species in the northern hemisphere

http://www.amonline.net.au/fishes/fishfact...ish/dlewini.htm