[9] It spends its time in the shallow part of the sea off the coast, and stays closer to the surface levels of the open ocean.

[10] The diet of the sawtooth barracuda consists primarily of ray-finned fish of the families Carangidae, Engraulidae (Anchovies), and Scombridae, and, to a far lesser extent, some molluscs and crustaceans.

[13] Young barracuda drift inshore in spring, and move to deeper water in the late fall.

[14] Sphyraena putnamae consume diverse prey items, which can be grouped into three main categories: teleosts, molluscs, and crustaceans.

[13] The main constituents of their teleost diet included caragids, scombrids, engraulids, leiognathids, and synodontids.

[13] Sphyraena putnamae is mostly a nocturnal predator that individually searches for prey at night, and moves in groups throughout the day.

[13] In the dominant food category, it is composed mainly of the species Decapterus Russelli, Megalaspis Cordyla, and Rastrelliger Kanagurta.

[13] A species of myxozoa (Kudoa barracudai) infecting a S. putnamae's muscles was described from the Red Sea in 2016.

The center of diversity is likely to be found in the eastern Indian Ocean or western Pacific regions, as this is where the species was first discovered and has maintained its highest population densities.

Sphyraena putnamae was identified first from a collection of fishes in Hong Kong in 1905 by David Jordan and Alvin Seale.

Two years later, the species was published in the Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, Vol.