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These large, silvery fish are prominent members of our Kelp Forest exhibit. White steenbras (Lithognathus lithognathus), also sometimes known as pignose grunters, occur in both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. They grow up to a length of about one metre and can weigh up to as much as 30 kilograms, making them popular targets for anglers.

Palmate sea fans are related to soft corals.

Sinuous Sea fans are related to soft corals.

Nippled Sea fans are related to soft corals.

Cape sea urchins live in vast numbers on shallow reefs, where they graze on kelp and algal debris. In 1994, the urchins did a mysterious disappearing act – vanishing almost completely.  In just two years they were virtually extinct in certain areas.

Mantis shrimps are so named because of their similarity to praying mantises. 

Red-chested sea cucumbers live in great numbers on shallow reefs. According to Two Oceans: A Guide to the Marine Life of Southern Africa (Struik Nature, 2010), the “young are brooded in pockets in the skin and can often be seen clinging to the surface of the parent”.

This monogamous fish is found in the Indo-Pacific on outer lagoons and seaward reefs, over hard bottoms, as well as over sand and rubble. 

Blue hottentot are plentiful off the coasts of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

Fransmadam, meaning “French mistress”, is an old Cape name for these fish, possibly referring to the drab dresses worn by early Huguenot women.

The Guinea fowl wrasse occurs in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and off East Africa. 

These fish live in a mutually symbiotic partnership with anemones. While most fish avoid anemones because of the stinging cells in their tentacles, the clownfish is coated with protective mucus, which enables it to swim freely in and around the anemone.