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Iridescent cardinalfish
This is a small, elongated fish with a light brown or tan body. It has a dark brown to black strip that runs from the tip of its snout to its peduncle, crossing its large, dark eyes.
Paleband spinecheek
The spinecheek is a sleek, silver fish with a darker, spotted upper body.
Redbarred cardinal
Redbarred cardinals are small, silver fish with fine orange bars running vertically on their sides.
Crown squirrelfish
Crown squirrelfish are bright red, with many silver stripes running horizontally across their bodies.
Ring-tailed cardinal
The ring-tailed cardinal is a small, yellow-copper fish with a large eye outlined by two vivid blue stripes which cross its face horizontally.
Striped cardinalfish
This cardinal is a small fish, characterized by four dark horizontal stripes on each side and a dark stripe along its dorsal surface.
Blotcheye soldier
The blotcheye soldier is a small, vividly red fish with large eyes, black gill covers and white edges on its fins.
Nosestripe clownfish
The nosestripe clownfish also known as the skunk clownfish (Amphiprion akallopisos) is a small, oblong fish with a pale pinkish-orange colour.
Birdmouth wrasse
Birdmouth wrasses are small, elongated fish that display strong sexual dimorphism (males and females look different). Males are vivid blue-green with yellowed fins. Their snouts grow disproportionately long, often with bulbous protrusions. Females are significantly smaller, with comparatively drab colouration. They are yellow-brown with white underparts. Their snouts are also elongated, but more slender than the male’s. Birdmouth wrasses use their elongated snouts, which have small mouths on the end, to prey on small invertebrates in cracks and crevices. They are abundant around Indian Ocean reefs, particularly on the African coast.Pot-hole urchin
This is a large, round urchin with medium length spines that can reach about half its diameter in length. Its body is black, and its spines are purple with a metallic sheen, rarely greenish at the tips. They are easily distinguished from similar species, eg. Needle urchins, by the presence of 5 grey zig-zagging sutures on their upper surface. Multiple generations of pot-hole urchin slowly excavate caves for themselves – hence their name. This multi-generational behaviour has resulted in pot-hole urchins having a patch distribution, occurring in huge numbers where they have been able to dig these excavations, eg. The Philippines and Sri Lanka, but rarer in other parts of the Indo-Pacific. They emerge from these hiding spots at night to catch scraps of floating algae.Short-spined urchin
Short-spined urchins are large, well-rounded sea urchins, completely covered in short, white spines. Long tube-feet extend well beyond their spines.They inhabit beds of seaweed, where they use their tiny tube-feet to camouflage themselves by holding straps of seaweed, rocks or other debris over their bodies (as pictured). This behaviour gives them their international name of “collector urchin”.Short-spined urchins are opportunistic feeders, and feed voraciously on algae, seagrass and bacterial mats. Their behaviour is unaffected by the day-night cycle, and this is unusual amongst urchin species. This unusual behaviour has made short-spined urchins useful for rehabilitating coral reefs which have been infested by alien seaweed species.These urchins are nutritious and edible – regularly preyed upon by humans, octopuses and puffer fish.Boxfish
The yellow boxfish may be small, but it packs a punch! This little fish is the type species for the genus Ostracion – this means it is the “base” species for the boxfish family and is permanently the first association with the genus. Ostracion means “little box” and describes its cube-like body. Its species name, cubicum, refers to its boxy shape.