REEF: Common Caribbean reef fishes
These are among the most common reef fishes that divers will encounter in the Caribbean. More information at http://www.REEF.org.
Sergeant Major
The Sergeant Major or pÃÂntano (Abudefduf saxatilis, family Pomacentridae) is a large, colourful damselfish. It earns its name from its brightly striped sides, which are reminiscent of the insignia of a military Sergeant Major. It grows to a length of about 15cm (6 inches).
Ocean Surgeonfish
The Ocean Surgeonfish, Acanthurus bahianus, is a tropical fish known to live in reefs in the Atlantic Ocean.
Doctorfish Tang
Acanthurus chirurgus, commonly called the Doctor fish and the Doctorfish tang in English or the Barbero rayado and the Cirujano rayado in Spanish, is a tropical marine fish common in the Atlantic Ocean.
Trumpetfish
Trumpetfish, Aulostomus maculatus, are long bodied fish with upturned mouths, that often swim vertically while trying to blend with vertical coral, like sea rods, sea pens, and pipe sponges.
Bar Jack
The bar jack, Carangoides ruber (also known as the carbonero, red jack, blue-striped cavalla and passing jack) is a common species of inshore marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The bar jack is distributed through the western Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey and Bermuda in the north to Venezuela and possibly Brazil in the south, with ...more ↓
Four-eyed Butterflyfish
The Four-eyed Butterflyfish (Chaetodon capistratus) is a butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae). This species is found in the Western Atlantic from Massachusetts, USA and Bermuda to the West Indies and northern South America.
Spotfin Butterflyfish
The spotfin butterflyfish, Chaetodon ocellatus, is a butterflyfish found in the western Atlantic Ocean, in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
Banded Butterflyfish
The banded butterflyfish (Chaetodon striatus) is a butterflyfish found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Brazil to Bermuda.
Blue Chromis
Chromis cyanea, also known as Blue Reef Chromis, or just Blue Chromis is a fish from the western Atlantic Ocean that occasionally is kept in marine aquariums.
Bluestriped Grunt
The Blue Striped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus) is a subtropical perciform fish belonging to the family Haemulidae. It was first described by the English naturalist George Shaw in 1803.
Yellowhead Wrasse
Halichoeres garnoti, the yellowhead wrasse, is a ray-finned fish in the family Labridae. It is found in shallow tropical waters in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean.
Queen Angelfish
The Queen Angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris) is an angelfish commonly found near reefs in the warmer sections of the western Atlantic Ocean.
Rock Beauty
The rock beauty, Holacanthus tricolor, is a species of marine angelfish of the family Pomacanthidae.
Yellowtail Damselfish
Microspathodon chrysurus is a Damselfish from the Western Atlantic. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade, where it is known as the Marine Jewelfish (not to be confused with the freshwater Cichlid, known as the Jewelfish) . It grows to a size of 21cm in length. When juvenile it has brilliant blue spots on a dark blue back ground. It is probably the most ...more ↓
Yellow Goatfish
The yellow goatfish (Mulloidichthys martinicus), also known as yellowsaddle or goldsaddle goatfish (Parupeneus cyclostomus), is a white to pale pink fish with a yellow stripe from the eye to the caudal peduncle.
Yellowtail Snapper
The yellowtail snapper, Ocyurus chrysurus, is an abundant species of snapper found along the North American coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Although they have been found as far north as Massachusetts, their normal range is along Florida down through the West Indies and Brazil.
Grey Angelfish
The gray angelfish, Pomacanthus arcuatus, is a large angelfish of the family Pomacanthidae, found in the western Atlantic from New England to the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and also the Bahamas, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean, including the Antilles, at depths of between 2 and 30 m. Length is up to 60 cm.
Harlequin Bass
A fish from the Western Atlantic that occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 29cm in length.
Stoplight Parrotfish
The Stoplight parrotfish is a sex-changing fish inhabiting coral reefs in Florida, Bahamas, the Caribbean, eastern Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda, and Brazil. Its typical length is between 30 and 45 cm, but it can reach 60 cm at times. It is normally found during the day between 0,5 and 16 meters.
Great Barracuda
The Great Barracuda is a species of barracuda. Its binomial name is Sphyraena barracuda. Great barracudas often grow over 6 feet (1.8 m) long and are a type of ray-finned fish.
Bicolor Damselfish
Stegastes partitus or the bicolor damselfish is a species of bony fish in the family Pomacentridae found near the sea bed on shallow rocky and coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and off the coasts of Florida.
Bluehead Wrasse
Thalassoma bifasciatum is a is a species of saltwater fish in the wrasse family (family Labridae) of order Perciformes native to the coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea. Like its relative T. amblycephalum it is commonly called "blue-headed wrasse", "blunt-headed wrasse" or "bluehead". Blueheads are small (less than 110 mm standard length) and rarely ...more ↓
