Scientific name : Taenianotus triacanthus
Family : Scorpaenidae (scorpionfish, rockfish, stonefish… 231 species)
Size : Up to 10 cm
Distribution : Indo-Pacific Ocean, from Mozambique to French Polynesia
Biology : This scorpionfish is an ambush predator that catches shrimps and small fish flowing past it. Its outstanding camouflage allows it to blend in with corals and seagrass beds. It even makes gentle sideways movements to simulate backwash waves.
IUCN status : Least concern
Scientific name : Choerodon fasciatus
Family : Labridae
Size : Up to 30 cm
Distribution : Western Pacific (discontinuous)
Biology : Solitary and territorial, it is constantly on the move, exploring its territory for food. It is rather shy and wary but very curious.
IUCN status : Least concern
Scientific name : Scorpaenopsis diabolus
Family : Scorpaenidae (scorpionfishes, 231 species)
Size : Up to 30 cm
Distribution : Indo-Pacific
Biology : This scorpionfish has a massive, humpbacked appearance that makes it easy to pass off as a stone. Like all other scorpionfish, it has venomous dorsal spines. It owes its name to the particularly atrocious sting it can inflict if accidentally stepped on. As it can live in very shallow waters, accidents can happen very quickly…
However, if it feels threatened, it may deploy its bright orange pectoral fins as a warning.
IUCN status : Least concern
Scientific name : Centropyge bispinosa
Family : Pomacanthidae
Size : Up to 10 cm
Distribution : Indian ocean and Pacific ocean
Biology : As a hermaphrodite species, the fish are first females and then become males as they get older. Centropyges live in a harem which includes one male and 5 to 8 females.
It prefers rocky bottoms with plenty of algae, dense coral reefs and external slopes. Their territory usually spans a few square meters.
Scientific name : Pygoplites diacanthus
Family : Pomacanthidae (marine angelfishes, 91 species)
Size : Up to 25 cm
Distribution : Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea to Hawaii
Biology : They are territorial species that can be found solitary and occasionally in pairs. It feeds mainly on sponges and other invertebrates. It is a sequential hermaphrodite; it is born as a female and eventually it transforms into a male.
IUCN status : Least concern
Scientific name : Zebrasoma xanthurum
Family : Acanthuridae
Size : Up to 22 cm
Distribution : Indian ocean, Red sea
Biology : Like all surgeonfish, it has a scalpel-shaped spine on each side at the base of its tail.
It lives in schools above the reef where it feeds on algae and invertebrates.
IUCN status : Least concern
Scientific name : Pseudanthias dispar
Family : Serranidae
Size : Up to 10 cm
Distribution : Indo-Pacific
Biology : They’re planktivorous animals. They constantly feed on tiny crustaceans, eggs, and different larvae that they catch in the open water.
They can be found by walls and reef slopes exposed to currents. They change sex during their lives (Sequential hermaphroditism). They are born female and then become male over the course of their lives.
IUCN status : Least concern
Scientific name : Diadema setosum
Family : Diadematidae
Size : Spikes can reach 30 cm
Distribution : Red sea, Indian ocean, Tropical central Pacific ocean, East Mediterranean
Biology : It has powerful teeth that help it to pull out algae attached to the substrate.
It is found in lagoons, on the sand, in sea grass beds…
Scientific name : Aeoliscus strigatus
Family : Centriscidae
Size : Up to 15 cm
Distribution : Indian ocean, West Pacific
Biology : They move in groups, head facing down, tail up. They feed on zooplankton. The almost daily reproduction looks like a graceful ballet.
They live close to the bottom, close to fallback areas to escape predators by hiding either in the spines of sea urchins, corals or in gorgonians.
Scientific name : Gymnothorax funebris
Family : Muraenidae
Size : Up to 230 cm
Distribution : West and East tropical Atlantic
Biology : It moves mostly at night to hunt fish, crustaceans and cephalopods. During the day, it remains sheltered, hidden in rocky faults.
IUCN status : Least concern
