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Marine Creatures
| Disks & Ovals |
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| English Name |
Latin Name | Picture |
| Ocean Sturgeon Fish |
Acanthurus bahianus |
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| Spotfin Butterfly |
Chaetodon ocellatus |
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| Banded Butterfly |
Chaetodon striatus |
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| Gray Angel Fish | Pomacanthus arcuatus |
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| Sea Bream |
Archosargus rhomboidalis |
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| Pinfish | Lagodon rhomboides |  |
| Littlehead Porgy |
Calamus proridens |
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| Porkfish | Anisotremus virginicus |  |
| Small Ovals |
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| Cocoa Damselfish |
Stegastes variabilis |
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| Bicolor Damselfish |
Stegastes partitus |  |
| Silvery | ||
| Rainbow Runner | Elagatis bipinnulata |  |
| Bar Jack | Carangoides ruber |  |
| Sloping Heads/Tapered Bodies |
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| Yellowtail Snapper | Ocyurus chrysurus |  |
| French Grunt | Haemulon flavolineatum |  |
| Odd-Shaped Swimmers |
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| Honeycomb Cowfish |
Acanthostracion polygonius |  |
| Jackknife Fish |
Equetus lanceolatus |  |
| Orangespotted Filefish | Cantherhines pullus |  |
| Highhat | Pareques Acuminatus |
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| Morays | ||
| Green Moray |
Gymnothorax funebris |  |
| Spotted Moray |
Gymnothorax moringa |  |
| Broadbanded Moray |
Channomuraena vittata |  |
| Goldspotted Eel |
Myrichthys ocellatus |  |
| Crustaceans | ||
| Spiny Lobster |
Panulirus Argus |
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| Red Reef Hermit Crab |
Dardanus Megistos |
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| Mollusks | ||
| Rough Fileclam |
Lima Scabra |  |
| Thorny Oyster |
Spondylus Americanus |  |
| Echinoderms | ||
| Long-Spined Urchin |
Diadema Antillarum |  |
| Slate-Pencil Urchin |
Eucidaris Tribuloides |  |
| Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber |
Holothuria Thomasi |  |
| Giant Basket Star |
Astrophyton Muricatum |
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| Coral | ||
| Branching Fire Coral |
Millepora Alcicornis |
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| Corky Sea Finger |
Briareum Asbestinum |
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| Feather Black Coral |
Plumapathes Pennacea |
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| Encrusting Gorgonian |
Erythropodium Caribaeorum |
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| Black Sea Rod |
Plexaura Homomalla |
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| Shelf-knob Sea Rod |
Eunicea Succinea |
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| Segmented Worms |
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| Bearded Fireworm |
Hermodice carunculata |  |
| Sponge Worm |
Haplosyllis sp. |
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| Magnificent Feather Duster |
Sabellastarte Magnifica |
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| Sponges | ||
| Branching Tube Sponge |
Pseudoceratina Crassa |
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| Algae | ||
| Green Algae | Caulerpa mexicana |  |
| Calcareous Algae | Halimeda discoidea |  |
| Red "Lettuce" Algae | Halymenia duchassaignii |  |
| Tunicates | ||
| Reef Tunicate |
Rhopalea Abdominalis |  |
| Predadtor/Prey | ||
| On Barracuda Reef, my divebuddy Wedge and I saw 2 lizardfish simultaneously grab a grunt, play tug of war for a while, until one of them gave up. The "winner" then proceeded to swallow the grunt, tail first! | ||
| Symbiosis |
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| Neon Gobies tend to do a lot of cleaning on the reef. I have seen them cleaning a green moray (Barracuda Reef), and StopLight Parrotfish (Oakland Ridge). | ||
| Another symbiotic relationship on the reef is of sharksuckers and their hosts. I have witnessed sharksuckers on parrotfish (wreck of the Mercedes), nurse sharks (Barracuda Reef), and eagle rays (Carolina Beach) | ||
| Effect of Man |
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| The effects of man are visible all over the reef. Wrecks provide sanctuary for fish and an 'anchor' for coral; their cargo (there is an old Harley Davidson on the wreck of the Mercedes); discarded tires, bottles and various other trash are all but too evident. It's a mixed picture. |
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