The World's Reefs

During the day, it lives in schools and often "grazes" Posidonia leaves (underwater flowering plant). It also eats small animals that live hanging on the leaves. Juveniles live in very shallow waters. It flesh, soft and bland, is not appreciated.

The eye of this fish is masked by a black band that disrupts the visual perception of it body by predators. It has venomous spines on the dorsal and pectoral fins. It is easy to maintain in captivity but they need hiding places for shelter.

During breeding, the bream groups enter lagoons and estuaries to mate. Sought after since the Antiquity for the quality of its meat: the Romans fattened bream in tanks. Its intensive pisciculture has developed since the 80s.

By day, these fish form a small group and remain free from branched corals. At night, the group dislocates and specimens go down near the bottom for food. During the incubation period, the eggs are kept in the mouth of the male. The latter fasts until they hatch.

During the day it feeds on plankton near the surface. It descends to the bottom before dark to capture small invertebrates. The male is more colorful than the female. It is a protogynous hermaphrodite species: females become males. Its flesh is not appreciated.

It differs from other species of wrasses because of the elongated shape of it head. Those who live in the Posidonia meadows (underwater flowering plants) are entirely green. The male builds a nest of seaweed and gravel where it distributes the eggs until they hatch.

During breeding season, its color becomes brighter and it builds a large nest with plant debris. It attracts the attention of females by performing a characteristic swimming. It will mate with several of them and it will protect and ventilate the eggs until they hatch.

The sailfin snapper frequents sandy bottoms in the immediate vicinity of coral reefs. This usually solitary fish preys on other fish, crustaceans, and various mollusk species. It is a tropical fish occasionally targeted by fishermen.

The skin of this species secretes a toxic mucus for predators and parasites. This fish is territorial and fights involving males are common. To lay eggs, both partners embrace and rise to the surface to release their reproductive cells that will be mixed by sea currents.

The moon wrasse inhabits the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific. This species is sometimes referred to as the moon wrasse due to the shape and yellow color of their caudal fin. This wrasse primarily feeds on small invertebrates residing in the rocks and fish eggs.

It is one of the most colorful Mediterranean fish. The female has a black spot on the dorsal fin. The stain will disappear and its color becomes more vivid when it will change sex (hermaphroditism protogynous). It is more abundant in the northern Mediterranean.

The Indian sail-fin surgeonfish is a tropical fish native to the reefs of the Indo-Pacific. This fish has very large dorsal and anal fins, which it can use to double its size. It uses these features to impress its counterparts during courtship.

The twotone tang, like its counterparts, possesses scalpels at the base of the caudal fin. In times of danger, it can extend two small blades for protection against predators. Adults of these fish typically live in groups of around twenty individuals. They gather in large schools to spawn during the breeding season. They are exclusively herbivorous and graze on algae in coral-rich areas.