The Aliwal Shoal is a rocky reef which is the remains of an ancient sand dune approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) off the coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The reef is inhabited by many kinds of hard and soft corals and other marine invertebrates, and a variety of tropical and subtropical fish species. Aliwal Shoal was named after the near-sinking in 1849 of the three-masted vessel "Aliwal", captained by James Anderson. There are two wrecks near the reef that are popular recreational dive sites. The Norwegian bulk carrier MV Produce sank in 1974, and SS Nebo sank in 1884. Aliwal Shoal has diverse marine life, including large predators, and is popular as a recreational scuba diving destination. The Shoal is known especially for its abundance of Grey nurse sharks between July and November when the sharks congregate there to mate.
Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different from "true" corals (Scleractinia). These can be found in suborders Holaxonia, Scleraxonia, and Stolonifera. They are sessile colonial cnidarians that are found throughout the oceans of the world, especially in the deep sea, polar waters, tropics and subtropics. Common names for subsets of this order are sea fans and sea whips; others are similar to the sea pens of related order Pennatulacea. Individual tiny polyps form colonies that are normally erect, flattened, branching, and reminiscent of a fan. Others may be whiplike, bushy, or even encrusting. A colony can be several feet high and across, but only a few inches thick. They may be brightly coloured, often purple, red, or yellow. Photosynthetic gorgonians can be successfully kept in captive aquaria.
The teardrop butterflyfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the (family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is a free, online collaborative encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing databases and from contributions by experts and non-experts throughout the world. It aims to build one "infinitely expandable" page for each species, including video, sound, images, graphics, as well as text. In addition, the Encyclopedia incorporates content from the Biodiversity Heritage Library, which digitizes millions of pages of printed literature from the world's major natural history libraries. The project was initially backed by a US$50 million funding commitment, led by the MacArthur Foundation and the Sloan Foundation, who provided US$20 million and US$5 million, respectively. The additional US$25 million came from five cornerstone institutions—the Field Museum, Harvard University, the Marine Biological Laboratory, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Smithsonian Institution. The project was initially led by Jim Edwards and the development team by David Patterson. Today, participating institutions and individual donors continue to support EOL through financial contributions.
Centropyge tibicen, the keyhole angelfish, black angelfish, whitespot angelfish or puller angelfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a marine angelfish belonging to the family Pomacanthidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region.
Pigeon Island National Park is one of the two marine national parks of Sri Lanka. The national park is situated 1 km off the coast of Nilaveli, a coastal town in Eastern Province, encompassing a total area of 471.429 hectares. The island's name derives from the rock pigeon which has colonized it. The national park contains some of the best remaining coral reefs of Sri Lanka. Pigeon Island was designated as a sanctuary in 1963. In 2003 it was re-designated as a national park. This national park is the 17th in Sri Lanka. The island was used as a shooting range during the colonial era. Pigeon Island is one of the several protected areas affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
Inimicus is a genus of venomous fishes, closely related to the true stonefishes. This genus is a member of the family Synanceiidae of the ray-finned fish order Scorpaeniformes. These benthic fishes are found on sandy or silty substrates of lagoon and seaward reefs, in coastal regions of tropical oceans. The ten described species are collectively known by various common names, including ghoul, goblinfish, sea goblin, spiny devilfish, stinger, and stingfish).
Ovula ovum, common name the common egg cowrie, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
Phyllodesmium guamense is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.
Phyllodesmium magnum is a species of sea slug, an aeolid nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Facelinidae.
Alcyoniidae is a family of leathery or soft corals in the phylum Cnidaria.
Alcyonium palmatum or red dead man's fingers is a species of soft coral in the family Alcyoniidae.
Achaeus spinosus is a small decapod which belongs to the large family of the Inachidae or the spider crabs.
Sinularia is a genus of soft coral in the family Alcyoniidae. They are commonly known as leather corals and currently have 166 described species in the genus.
Acreichthys radiatus, commonly known as the radial filefish or the radial leatherjacket, is a species of demersal marine fish which belongs to the family Monacanthidae widespread throughout the tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean, including the Ryukyu Islands, the Philippines, the oriental part of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the north east area of Australia, and New Caledonia. It is a small size fish that can reach a maximum size of 7 centimeters in length.
Acreichthys tomentosus, commonly known as the bristle-tail filefish, is a species of demersal marine fish which belongs to the family Monacanthidae and is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-west Pacific. It is a small fish that can reach a maximum size of 12 cm length and has the ability to rapidly change color and skin texture and patterns as to avoid detection and consequently predation. It is oviparous
Sinularia polydactyla, known as finger leather coral, is a species of soft coral in the family Alcyoniidae. Bio-active isolates called durumolides have been found in samples of this coral.
Piti Bomb Holes Marine Preserve is a marine protected area comprising all of Piti Bay on the western coast of Guam, located off of the village of Piti in the Philippine Sea. The defining "bomb hole" features, named because they look like bomb craters in the reef flat, are actually natural percolation pits where fresh water filters into the shallow lagoon at a depth of 25 to 30 feet. The largest pit houses the commercial Fish Eye Marine Park tourist attraction, which includes a wooden pier to a underwater observatory and a Seawalker tour of the lagoon bottom. It is visited by more than 200,000 people annually. The Piti preserve is the most ecologically diverse of Guam's five marine preserves. The pit around Fish Eye is a popular snorkeling and recreational diving site.
Finger leather coral may refer to different coral taxa:
