Scientific name : Centropyge loricula

 

Family : Pomacanthidae (marine angelfishes, 91 species)
Size : Up to 15 cm
Distribution : Tropical Pacific Ocean, from the Australian coast to Hawaii

 

Biology : The flame angelfish is a discreet reef inhabitant. It feeds on small invertebrates (especially crustaceans, worms and sponges) and algae found among corals and in the crevices of the sea.
This species is a sequential hermaphrodite, it is born as a female before being transformed into a male.

 

IUCN status : Least concern

 

Scientific name : Taeniura lymma

 

Family : Dasyatidae
Size : Up to 35 cm
Distribution : Western Indo-Pacific

 

Biology : It often lives alone above the reef and sandy areas where it feeds on invertebrates.

 

IUCN status : Almost threatened

 

Scientific name : Pomacanthus navarchus

 

Family : Pomacanthidae (angelfish, 91 species)
Size : Up to 28 cm
Distribution : Indonesia and the western Pacific

 

Biology : Probably one of the most beautiful angelfish with its mosaic coat. It is a solitary fish, feeding on various invertebrates that it picks up from the bottom. It is hermaphroditic: at the start of its life, it is female, then transforms into a male.

 

IUCN status : Least concern

 

Scientific name : Pempheris vanicolensis

 

Family : Pempheridae (hatchetfish, 80 species)
Size : Up to 20 cm
Distribution : Indo-Pacific, from Mozambique to Polynesia

 

Biology : The hatchetfish is a typical cave fish, only coming out at night. Its large eyes enable it to find its way in the dark. It lives in shoals that can sometimes number several hundred individuals. It feeds on animal plankton, which it hunts in the open water.

 

IUCN status : Not assessed

 

Scientific name : Myripristis sp

 

Family : Holocentridae (soldier fish and squirrels, 90 species)
Size : Up to 40 cm
Distribution : Indo-Pacific

 

Biology : Soldier fish are known to be discreet during the day, their very large eyes giving them excellent night vision.
To maintain group cohesion, they are known to communicate with each other using a series of grunts, which are generally inaudible to humans as they are emitted at much too low a pitch.

 

IUCN status : Least concern

 

Order : Dendrochirotida

 

Biology : Sea apples are holothurians or sea cucumbers.
However, unlike other sea cucumbers, they do not feed on debris found in the sand. They feed primarily on plankton and other waterborne particles.

 

They have very large and branched tentacles that allow them to capture as many particles as possible.
When a tentacle has captured enough particles, it shoves its entire arm into its mouth to gobble them up. This is why they are sometimes referred to as “finger suckers”.

 

Order : Sabellida

 

Biology : Sabella are sedentary worms, also known as sea tubeworms. They are characterized by secreting a hardened mucus tube in which to spend the majority of their lives.
However, should the conditions be unfavorable, they are able to escape from their tube and settle elsewhere to secrete a new tube.

 

Sabella have a crown of tentacles that enable them to breathe and capture plankton. If a threat is spotted, sabella is able to retract its crown into the tube in seconds. Some species are colonial, individuals stick together and build their tubes on each other.