The Australian barracuda is greenish on the back, silvery on flanks which fades to white on the belly with a greenish-yellow tail. It has the typical fusiform shape of a barracuda, but it is slimmer than most other species of Sphyraena with a conical snout and a protruding lower jaw, the jaws are lined with fang like teeth and the upper jaw is non-protracting. The origin of the dorsal fin is well behind the end of the pectoral fins.