The silvertip shark can be found in many regions of the Indian and Pacific Oceans in waters up to 2,600 feet. Adults prefer the deeper waters and young sharks will inhabit shallows close to the coasts. Females of the species are larger than males; typically the species grows between six and a half feet to […]

The hammer shape of the hammerhead shark gives it its name. Its eyes are positioned on either side of the hammer, which gives them the ability to see what’s above and below them. Strangely enough, their mouths are quite small in contrast to their unusual head. During the day, they swim in schools but hunt […]

In Hawaiian, the name mahi-mahi means “very strong”. This species of fish is also known as the common dolphinfish, though not related to dolphins, and is found around the world in tropical and subtropical waters. It prefers living near the surface. The species is also called dorado due its ability to change color when out […]

The dorsal and pectoral fins of this shark are an unusual rounded shape, with the tips marked in white. Found around the world in deep ocean waters, this shark can be a danger to shipwreck or air crash victims. Carcharhinus longimanus, though a slow-moving swimmer, is often aggressive when feeding with other species. Whitetips eat […]

The scissorlike-tail and dominant black stripes give this reef-dwelling fish its fitting names – the scissortail sergeant or striptailed damselfish. Part of the Pomacentridae family, Abudefduf sexfasciatus are found in tropical waters around the Red Sea, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The males of the species go to great lengths to protect their young and are […]

There are several types of bluefin tunas that can be found around the world including the Atlantic bluefin, the Pacific bluefin, longtail, and the southern bluefin. Bluefins are the largest of tunas and most are endangered species because of being heavily overfished. The Pacific bluefin, or Thunnus orientalis, shown here, lives mainly in the North Pacific […]

Whale sharks can grow up to an astonishing 31 feet and 20,000 pounds. Some have been even bigger. The whale shark’s unique characteristics include its flat and wide head and its five very large pairs of gills. Whale sharks live in temperate, tropical waters all over the world. Their coloring is predominantly grey, with their […]

The Tautogolabrus adspersus, or cunner fish lives in the Atlantic around the eastern shores of the U.S. It is also known as a bergall or tautog, but the cunner is most distinguished by its pointed snout. Like many fish, the cunner have the ability to change color. They are usually between four and 10 inches […]

The spiny dogfish can live on average up to 40 years old. They swims by the hundreds in groups called schools and eat just about anything including crabs, jellyfish, small-size cod and capelins, herring, squid and even octopus. Their coloring is a mixture of brown, gray and white with a few spots that dot the […]

Blue sharks like to feed on a variety of fish, squid, shrimp and crabs. They live in tropical waters and can have anywhere from 25 to over 100 offspring called pups. Females are larger than males and can grow up to 12 feet and weigh 450 pounds. The blue color is darker on the top […]

The interesting markings of a four-eye butterfly fish give the illusion they have more than one pair of eyes. This ingenious stroke of nature helps the fish escape predators who often mistake the eye markings near the tail as the head of the fish. These Western Atlantic dwellers, also known by their scientific name as Chaetodon […]

Scrawled filefish can be found in many places in the ocean, including reefs and lagoons. Its distinctive shape is like an oval punctuated with several blue lines and spots which will change color, depending on where the filefish lives. Aluterus scriptus can be found in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It has two dorsal spines […]

Large prominent teeth tend to give this fish a bad reputation. However while extremely curious, very rarely will these picevoires take a nip at human. We often fed large cudas in Pennekamp Park who would then follow us through out the dive like one of the team. While not a problem for humans, these predators […]

This bright, yellow/blue fish can be found in the western Atlantic Ocean in the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas and in the eastern Atlantic near north-eastern Brazil. It lives primarily in reefs and feasts on sponges. It also eats a variety of algae, jellyfish, corals and plankton. It is a very […]

Unlike their brethren, parrotfish, part of the Scaridae family of fish, spend most of their time close to the coral reef structure. These very large parrotfish will often be feeding out in the sand flats scoping up mouthfuls of sand, scouring the particles for algae and small crustaceans. These are large mostly solitary parrotfish. I caught […]