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Fish & Sharks

Barracuda

Svendsen and colleagues estimate a barracuda burst at 13.9 mph (6.2 m/s) from muscle data. It is not a logged swim.

A barracuda can swim about 13.9 mph (6.2 m/s), an estimate.

Also known as Sphyraena barracuda
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Top speed

Published as 6.2 m/sPublished as 6.2 m/sPublished as 6.2 m/s

Svendsen et al. 2016, Biology Open. Muscle-contraction estimate for barracuda, point value 13.9 mph (6.2 m/s), reported uncertainty ±2.2 mph (1.0 m/s). Not a logged swim. The figure is the point estimate.

EstimatedBiology Open (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 59% of Usain Bolt's 100 m world-record paceSourced · Usain Bolt, 100 m in 9.58 s. World Athletics, Berlin 2009. Averaged over the race
  • 21% of a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • A football field in 15 sConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

Quick answers

People also ask

How fast can a barracuda swim?

A barracuda can swim about 13.9 mph (6.2 m/s), an estimate.

Is that figure claimed or verified?

Barracuda is labeled Estimated. Calculated or approximated rather than directly timed.

What is the source?

The figure cites Biology Open, “Maximum swimming speeds of sailfish and three other large marine predatory fish species based on muscle contraction time and stride length: a myth revisited.”

Where does Barracuda rank?

Barracuda is 3rd of 10 on Fastest Fish & Sharks.

Mechanism

Why it's so fast

Svendsen and colleagues estimate a great barracuda burst, Sphyraena barracuda, at about 13.9 mph (6.2 m/s) from muscle data. It is not a logged swim.

Species
Sphyraena barracuda
Estimate
13.9 mph (6.2 m/s)
Method
Muscle twitch

  1. Same method, slower estimate

    The barracuda's 13.9 mph (6.2 m/s) uses the muscle-twitch method that gave the sailfish 18.6 mph (8.3 m/s). The fish is a different shape and a different estimate. Nothing in the paper puts a speedometer on this barracuda.

  2. An estimate stays an estimate

    13.9 mph (6.2 m/s) is faster than the little tunny's 5.6 and the dorado's 4.0 in the same study. It is not a filmed hunt. The page does not treat the ranking of estimates as if they were tags.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 22.3km/h13.9mph6.2m/s12.1knRanked figure

    Svendsen et al. 2016, Biology Open. Muscle-contraction estimate for barracuda, point value 13.9 mph (6.2 m/s), reported uncertainty ±2.2 mph (1.0 m/s). Not a logged swim. The figure is the point estimate.

    The methods name the barracuda Sphyraena barracuda. ±2.2 mph (1.0 m/s) is the uncertainty, not a second speed.

    Estimated
    Biology Open (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Species
Sphyraena barracuda
Estimate
13.9 mph (6.2 m/s)
Method
Muscle twitch

Context

Background

In the same 2016 muscle-twitch paper, the barracuda point estimate is 13.9 mph (6.2 m/s), uncertainty 2.2 mph (1.0 m/s). The methods name that fish Sphyraena barracuda. The figure is 13.9 mph (6.2 m/s), qualifier estimated. It is a calculation from muscle, not a speed a tag recorded in the sea.

The sailfish estimate in that paper is faster. The shortfin mako's logged burst is a different method and a different row.

Head to head

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