Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be confused with the freshwater angelfish, tropical cichlids of the Amazon Basin.
Triggerfish are about 40 species of often brightly colored fish of the family Balistidae. Often marked by lines and spots, they inhabit tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world, with the greatest species richness in the Indo-Pacific. Most are found in relatively shallow, coastal habitats, especially at coral reefs, but a few, such as the oceanic triggerfish, are pelagic. While several species from this family are popular in the marine aquarium trade, they are often notoriously ill-tempered.
The clown triggerfish, also known as the bigspotted triggerfish, is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Balistidae, or commonly called triggerfish.
The Redtoothed triggerfish is a triggerfish of the tropical Indo-Pacific area, and the sole member of its genus. Some other common names include blue triggerfish, redfang triggerfish, redtoothed filefish, and Niger triggerfish.
The spinner dolphin is a small dolphin found in off-shore tropical waters around the world. It is famous for its acrobatic displays in which it rotates around its longitudinal axis as it leaps through the air. It is a member of the family Delphinidae of toothed whales.
Melichthys is a small genus in the triggerfish family (Balistidae). Member species are found in the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and even the Red Sea. The Black triggerfish is the largest species in this genus at 45 cm in length and the Indian triggerfish is the smallest at 25 cm. Melichthys niger and Melichthys indicus are similar in appearance and are often confused.
The whalesucker is a species of remora in the family Echeneidae, so named because it attaches itself exclusively to cetaceans. It is found worldwide in tropical and warm waters; in the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic Ocean, it occurs from Texas to Brazil, and in the eastern Pacific Ocean, it occurs from Vancouver Island to Chile. It is the rarest member of the remora family, though this may reflect more the uncommon collection of cetaceans in the wild rather than the whalesucker's actual abundance.
The raccoon butterflyfish, also known as the crescent-masked butterflyfish, lunule butterflyfish, halfmoon butterflyfish, moon butterflyfish, raccoon butterfly, raccoon, raccoon coralfish, and redstriped butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The royal angelfish, or regal angelfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a marine angelfish belonging to the family Pomacanthidae, and the monotypic genus Pygoplites. It is found in tropical Indo-Pacific oceans. It can grow as long as 25 cm.
The Hawaiian butterflyfish, also known as Tinker's butterflyfish, is a marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae of order Perciformes. It is found in the central Pacific Ocean.
Caranx lugubris, the black jack, black trevally, black kingfish, coal fish or black ulua, is a species of large ocean fish in the jack family Carangidae. The species has a circumtropical distribution, found in oceanic, offshore waters of the tropical zones of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The species is particularly prevalent around offshore islands such as the Caribbean islands in the Atlantic, Hawaii and French Polynesia in the Pacific and the Seychelles and Maldives in the Indian Ocean. Black jack are rare in shallow waters, preferring deep reefs, ledges and seamounts in clear waters. The species is easily distinguished by its black to grey fins and jet black scutes, with the head having a steep profile near the snout. The largest recorded length is 1 m and weight of 17.9 kg. The black jack lives either individually or in small schools, and is known to school with other species. It is a predatory fish, taking a variety of fish, crustaceans and molluscs as prey. Sexual maturity is reached at 34.6 cm in females and 38.2 cm in males, with spawning taking place between February and September in the Caribbean. The early life history of the species is very poorly understood. Black jack are of high importance to many island fisheries, but are rarely encountered in most continental fisheries. The species has a reputation as a gamefish, and is variably considered a terrible or excellent food fish, although several cases of ciguatera poisoning have been attributed to the species. The species was initially named Caranx ascensionis by Georges Cuvier, however several issues with the use of this name have seen Felipe Poey's name Caranx lugubris become the valid scientific name.
The Indian triggerfish, also known as the black-finned triggerfish, has a brown body and black fins with white lines at the base of the dorsal and anal fins. It is found across the Indian Ocean. They can grow up to 10 in (25 cm) long.
Neoglyphidodon melas, also known as the bowtie damselfish, black damsel, bluefin or royal damsel, is a species of damselfish found in the Indo-West Pacific. It often makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 18 cm (7.1 in) in length.
Acanthurus lineatus, the lined surgeonfish, blue banded surgeonfish, blue-lined surgeonfish, clown surgeonfish, pyjama tang, striped surgeonfish, and zebra surgeonfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Acanthuridae, the surgeonfishes, unicornfishes and tangs. This species is found in the Indo-Pacific region.
Kyphosus sectatrix, the Bermuda chub, Pacific drummer, beaked chub, grey drummer, Pacific chub or white chub, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a sea chub from the family Kyphosidae. This species is found in tropical and subtropical coastal waters worldwide. It has had a confused taxonomic history dating back to Linnaeus's naming of the species in 1758.
The saddle wrasse, also known as Hīnālea Lauwili in Hawaiʻi, is a species of wrasse native to the waters around the Hawaiian Islands and Johnston Island. They are found on reefs at depths from 5 to 25 m. This species can reach 28 cm (11 in) in total length. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade.
Whale feces, the excrement of whales, has a significant role in the ecology of the oceans, and whales have been referred to as "marine ecosystem engineers". Nitrogen released by cetacean species and iron chelate is a significant benefit to the marine food chain in addition to sequestering carbon for long periods. Whale feces can give information on a number of aspects of the health, natural history and ecology of an animal or group as it contains DNA, hormones, toxins, and other chemicals.
Chlorurus spilurus, known commonly as the Pacific daisy parrotfish or Pacific bullethead parrotfish and in Hawaiian called uhu, is a species of marine fish in the family Scaridae. The Pacific daisy parrotfish is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Pacific.
Abudefduf sordidus, commonly known as the blackspot sergeant or kūpīpī in Hawaii, is a large solitary damselfish in the family Pomacentridae native to the tropical Indo-Pacific.
Atherinomorus insularum also called Hawaiian silverside or 'iao in Hawaiian is a species of fish in the family Atherinidae endemic to Hawaii.
