The Yellowback Anthias (Pseudanthias evansi) is a marine (saltwater) fish in the Serranidae family of sea basses and groupers. It is also known as the Goldback Anthias, Goldback Basslet, and Purple Wreckfish.
The female Yellowback Anthias is mainly violet with a yellow back and yellow caudal fin. The caudal fin is deeply forked with long thin edges. It has a light purple line through its eyes. The male has yellow dots on its upper body.
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The Decorator Crab, or Collector Crab, is a marine saltwater crustacean in the Majoidea super-family with several different species.
The Decorator Crab is difficult to see in its natural habitat in tropical reefs and lagoons because it covers itself with aquatic plants and materials from its environment.
About 75% of crabs in the Majoidea super-family decorate themselves for camouflage. Some cover themselves completely and some cover themselves a little bit.
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Scientists at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS) have stated that the coral cover in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the highest ever recorded, since records began 36 years ago, but the ecosystem remains vulnerable.
The Great Barrier Reef on the eastern coast of Australia is the world’s largest natural reef system of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 miles) long. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981 and labelled one of the seven natural wonders of the world in 1997.
AIMS scientists have been monitoring the levels of coral coverage in the reef to determine its health. They publish their findings annually.
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The Largescale Four-Eyes (Anableps anableps) is a freshwater and brackishwater fish in the Anablepidae family of four-eyed fish.
The Largescale Four-Eyes is an elongated fish with prominent eyes. It is greyish to reddish-brown in colour. It has a paddle-shaped tail.
It does not really have four eyes. Each eye has a horizontal band of tissue that splits the skin lengthwise (horizontally) into two lobes. Each lobe has its own pupil with its own vision. Therefore, there are four pupils, not four eyes. This means that, when it lies on the surface of the water, one lobed pupil looks at the sky and the other lobed pupil looks underwater. So, it can see above and below the surface of the water at the same time.
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The Red Reef Hermit Crab (Dardanus arrosor) is a decapod crustacean in the Diogenidae family of crabs. It is also known as the Mediterranean Hermit Crab.
The Red Reef Hermit Crab has a beige-coloured shell, called a carapace. The body of the Hermit Crab is hidden in the shell. The colour of its body varies from bright red to bright orange. Its eyes are at the tips of two eyestalks. The eyestalks are streaked red and white, and the eyes are bluish. It is a decapod, which means that it has ten appendages (two claws and eight legs). Its two red claws have a black or yellow tip. The claws have hair-like spines and warty tubercules. The left claw is larger than the right claw.
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The European Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a marine (saltwater) bony fish in the Moronidae family of temperate basses. It is also known as Sea Bass and Mullet.
The European Bass is silvery-grey, sometimes with dark-blue scales on its back. It has a slightly compressed body, a medium-sized head, and prominent jaws. It has teeth and fleshy lips. It has gills to breathe underwater. There are two dorsal (back) fins – the first one has thorny rays. The fins appear yellowish.
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The Common Spider Crab is a master at camouflage, using algae to cover itself.
The Common Spider Crab (Libinia emarginata) is a marine (saltwater) crustacean in the Epialtidae family of stenohaline crabs. It is also known as the Portly Spider Crab or the Nine-Spined Spider Crab. It is native to the Atlantic coastal waters of North America.
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The Broadnosed Pipefish (Syngnathus typhle) is a small marine (saltwater) fish in the Syngnathidae family of seahorses, pipefish, and seadragons.
The Broadnosed Pipefish looks like a thin, straight seahorse or a small sea snake. It is an elongated, long, tube-like, cyclindrical fish with a greenish colour and a yellowish belly. Its flattened snout (nose) is a long tube ending in a narrow mouth which opens upwards and is toothless. It has a fan-shaped caudal fin. It has small gill openings, called slits, which enable it to breathe underwater.
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What is the most poisonous animal in the sea for humans?
The Pufferfish, the Australian Box Jellyfish, and the Stonefish are extremely poisonous marine animals – so toxic that they can kill a human within minutes. But which one is the most poisonous?
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The Ghost Cardinalfish (Apogon leptacanthus or Zoramia leptacantha) is a marine (saltwater) fish in the Apogonidae family.
The Ghost Cardinalfish has a compressed body with a large head, large mouth, and large round eyes. Its lower jaw protrudes over its upper jaw. It is silver with a light-black bar on the caudal fin. Underneath its eyes is a thin, black line extending backwards. It has two dorsal (back) fins.
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The Firemouth Cichlid (Thorichthys meeki) is a tropical freshwater fish in the Cichlidae family of cichlids.
The Firemouth Cichlid has an oval, flattened body. Its head tapers towards its mouth. It is silvery with fiery red colouring under its chin and on its belly. There is a black, broken line on the side of its body. It has spiny fins with a bluish tint.
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The Bubble Coral (Plerogyra sinuosa) is a marine (saltwater) zooxanthellate coral in the Caryophylliidae family of stony corals, although this is not definitive according to some zoologists – they refer to its classification as Incertae sedis or Problematica (which means ‘uncertain placement’ or ‘problematic’). It is in the Cnidaria phylum. It is also known as Grape Coral, Pearl Coral, and Bladder Coral.
The Bubble Coral ‘bubble’ is grape-sized and roundish. It is cream to yellowish to light beige. Bunched together, like grapes, they form a colony that looks like an inverted cone.
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The Mayan Cichlid (Mayaheros urophthalmus) is a tropical freshwater fish in the Cichlidae family of cichlids. It is also known as the Mexican Mojarra.
The Mayan Cichlid has an oval, flattened body. Its head tapers towards its mouth. It is yellowish-brown to grey-brown, which becomes redder during breeding. However, the colour varies depending on its location. There are six wide green-black vertical stripes on the sides of its body. There is also a large, black eye-spot circled with blue-green on the tail stem. It has spiny fins.
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The Discus (Symphysodon aequifasciatus Pellegrin) is a freshwater fish in the Cichlidae family of cichlids. It is known as an Orange Variant of the Blue Discus, which is also known as the Brown Discus.
The Discus – Orange Variant is a laterally compressed fish, which means that it is vertically thin. It has a round discus-shape. It is patterned in shades of green, red, orange, brown, and blue.
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The Blacksaddle Filefish (Paraluteres prionurus) is a marine (saltwater) fish in the Monacahnthidae family of Leatherjackets. It is related to Pufferfish. It mimics the Valentin’s Sharpnose Puffer (Canthigaster valentini).
The Blacksaddle Filefish is greyish with distinctive black ‘saddles’ and a protruding nose. It has a yellow tail. It has a blue-grey head, and a white speckled body with blue-grey spots. It has four black stripes (called saddles) on its back.
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The Panther Grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) is a marine (saltwater) fish in the Serranidae family of groupers and sea bass. It is also known as the Polka Dot Grouper, High-Finned Grouper, Humpback Grouper, and Barramundi Cod.
The Panther Grouper has a laterally compressed, flat body. It has a greyish-yellowish-brown coloured background with small, darker spots all over its body. It is high at front of its back, which makes it look humpbacked.
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The Longspine Snipefish (Macroramphosus scolopax) is a marine (saltwater) fish in the Macroramphosidae family of snipefish. It is related to the Pipefish. It is also known as the Bellowfish, Spine Trumpet Fish, and Trumpetfish.
The Longspine Snipefish is reddish-pink with a silver underbelly. It has a moderately elongated body and head. It has a long snout (nose) and a tiny mouth without teeth. The snout curves slightly upward. It has scales on its body that are similar to the denticles of sharks because they have sharp ridges and spines. It has large, round eyes.
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The Milky Jellyfish (Chrysaora lactea) is a soft-bodied, invertebrate sea nettle in the Pelagiidae family of marine (saltwater) jellyfish. An invertebrate is an animal with no bones.
The Milky Jellyfish has a translucent (see-through) bell-shaped or umbrella-shaped dome body. It has short tentacles (limbs) with short arms. It has no bones, no brain, no heart, no blood, no excretory system, and no gills or lungs. It has nerve receptors in its body that enables it to detect smell, light, pressure, and touch. It is about 98% water.
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The Indian Yellowtail Angelfish (Apolemichthys xanthurus) is a marine (saltwater) fish in the Pomacanthidae family. It is also known as the Cream Angelfish, Smoke Angelfish, and Yellowtail Black Angelfish.
The Indian Yellowtail Angelfish has a large, round, flat body with thick lips and large, dark eyes. The scales are like a lattice design. The edges of its body are dark. It has a bright yellow tail and the other fins are dark-coloured. It has a yellow spot on the upper pre-operculum, near its eye.
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The Pacific Double Saddle Butterflyfish (Chaetodon ulietensis) is a tropical marine (saltwater) fish in the Chaetodontidae family of butterflyfish. It is also known as the False Falcula Butterflyfish.
The Pacific Double Saddle Butterflyfish has a flat, compressed, oval-shaped body. It is white with vertical, thin, black lines down its body and two dark saddles on its back. The fins and tail are bright yellow with a black spot on the tail. It has a black eye band, like a mask over its eyes. Its protruding snout (nose) is usually white.
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