Fish Identification
Krista Sherman – GEF FSP Coordinator, BNT
Bahamas Nature Tour Guide Certification Workshop
Black Point, Exuma Cays
June 26, 2012
Distinguishing Features
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Shape – oval, elongated, torpedo, etc.
Size
Colour
Markings – bar, stripe, band, lines, blotch,
spot, ocellated spot
• Anatomcial differences – fin type and
placement, scutes, barbel, spines, etc.
Fish Anatomy
Fish Anatomy
Fish Markings
Fish Markings
Fish Markings
Look at the OUTLINES!!!
In-field ID Tips
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Relax
Maintain neutral buoyancy
Get Close
Approach Slowly
Don’t Chase!!
Look EVERYWHERE
Use underwater ID slates
Take pictures
Angelfish (8”)
Family: Pomacanthidae
•Disk shaped
•Adults have long dorsal
and anal fins
•Rounded foreheads
•Found around reefs
Can reach over 12” in length
•Slow, graceful swimmers
•Juveniles can be difficult to
ID as they often look the
same between species
Angelfish
Size: 8-14”
Queen angelfish (Holocanthus ciliaris)
Size: 10-18”
Size: 10-14”
Gray (Pomacanthus arcuatus) and French angelfish (P. paru)
And More Frightening Yet…
Gray Angelfish Juvenile
French Angelfish Juvenile
Great Barracuda
(Sphyraena barracuda)
• Long cylindrical
silver body
• Large underslung
jaw
• Obvious pointed
teeth
• Middle of water
column
Foureye Butterflyfish
(Chaetodon capistratus)
Adult
• Light Band
through eye
• Black and white
oscellated spot
by tail
• Tops of reef
Juvenile
Banded Butterflyfish
(Chaetodon striatus)
• Three distinct
black bands
• Pointed mouth
• Disc shaped
•Flit about reef
tops
Spotfin Butterflyfish
(Chaetodon ocellatus)
• Oval body shape.
Adult
•Bright Yellow fins
except for pectoral
fins.
•Band on head,
stretches down over
the eye.
Juvenile
•Black dot on outer
edge of Dorsal fin
Groupers
spot
•Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) •Black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci)
•Size: 1-4’
•Size: 1.5-4’
•* E. striatus overfished. Observe closed season (Dec. 1-Feb. 28).
•Spawn during months of November-March.
Grunts
•Cottonwick (Haemulon
melanurum)
•Size: 7-10”
French grunt (H. flavolineatum)
Size: 6-10”
Parrotfish (10”)
Family: Scaridae
•Powerful jaws, fused teeth or
“beaks” to scrape algae from coral.
•Major producer of sand as they
excrete residual coral and
calcareous algal remains.
•Tend to be solitary.
Can be difficult to ID due to dramatic changes in
•Inhabit mostly reef zones but may shape, color, and markings that occur in most
stray to nearby seagrass beds.
species as they mature!
•Size can range from the 4-ft.
rainbow to the 7” green blotch .
Parrotfish
Size: 2.5-12”
•Queen parrotfish (Scarus vetula)
•Initial and terminal phases
Size: 12-24”
Size: 5-12”
Size: 1-2’
•Stoplight parrotfish (Sparisoma viride)
•Initial and terminal phases
Blue Parrotfish
Scarus coeruleus
MATURE phase
•All Blue
•Vary from powder blue to
deep-blue and blue-green
•Squared-off head
•Yellow zone on snout
•Bluish-white to purplishblue
•Some have yellow dorsal
and anal fins
JUVENILE phase
SNAPPERS
Sloping Heads/Tapered Bodies
1-2’
•Oblong-shaped fishes with
triangular heads
•Single, continuous dorsal fin that
is often higher in the front
•Nocturnal predators
•Feed on crustaceans and
small fish
•Shallow, notched tail
•Slightly upturned snouts, large
mouths
SCHOOLMASTER SNAPPER
Lutjanus apodus
• Fins yellow
• JUVENILE: Bars on the back
• 10-18”
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Drift in small to medium groups just above
reefs, in shade of large corals
Juveniles inhabit shallow bays and
mangrove lagoons
10-18”
Juvenile
YELLOWTAIL SNAPPER
Ocyrus chysurus
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Brilliant yellow midbody stripe and tail
Silvery to white, often tinged with blue
May have yellow spots on upper body
Swim alone or in loose aggregations
ODD-SHAPED SWIMMERS
Puffers-Boxfishes-Triggerfishes & Filefishes-Drums-Others
Boxfish
•Protected by a triangular, bony box
of armor
•Broom-like tails
•Two Groups: Cowfish and Trunkfish
•Feed on crustaceans and small fish
Drums
Filefish
•Elongate first dorsal spine
that can be raised and
lowered
•Ability to vibrate muscles to
produce a sound
•Unusually elongate foredorsal fins
•All patterned in white and black
Triggerfish
Pufferfish and Porcupinefish
•Can draw in water to greatly inflate their bodies as a
defense.
•Fused teeth to eat invertebrates
•Elongate first dorsal spine
QUEEN TRIGGERFISH
Balistes vetula
• Streaming tips on rear dorsal and tail fin
• Two blue stripes on face
• Small lines radiate from around the eye
OCEAN TRIGGERFISH
Canthidermis sufflamen
• Uniformly gray
• Black blotch at base of pectoral fin
• Similar grey triggerfish lacks this blotch
Wrasses (6”)
Family: Labridae
18”-3”
•Reef inhabitants
•Related to parrotfishes but typically have a more
elongate “Cigar” shape
•All have obvious scales
•At night, several species bury themselves in sand for
protection
Wrasses
Yellowhead wrasse
(Halichoeres garnoti)
Bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma
bifasciatum)
Size: 5-8”
Size: 4-6”
Spotfin hogfish (Bodianus
pulchellus)
Size: 4.5-9”
Lionfish
• Red and white stripes and
spots
• Elongated pectoral fins
• Venomous dorsal, pelvic
and anal spines
• Papillae – skin flaps
• Supraocular tentacles
Nurse Shark
• Two barbels on upper lip
• Two dorsel fins, of nearly equal size, are set far
back
• Colour varies from grey to yellow-brown
•Often found laying on sand, under ledges and
overhangs
Classification and Biology
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Class: Chondrichtyes
Subclass: Elasmobranchii
12 orders (3 extinct) and ~1100 species
~ 500 shark species
Variation in size and body form (27cm to 21m)
Lemon shark
Oceanic whitetip shark
Tiger shark
Whale
Whaleshark
shark
Nurse shark
Caribbean reef shark
Blue shark
How do sharks compare to other ocean species?
Age at first reproduction (years)
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RAYS
Skeletons composed of cartilage
Eagle Ray
• Black with white oscillated spots
• Pelagic feeders unlike most rays
• Swim in large schools
Yellow Sting Ray
• Yellow to gray in color with spots
• Stays relatively small
• Camouflages easily with sand
Southern Sting Ray
• Up to 7 feet across
• Often sit in the sand
Sea Turtles
SEA TURTLES
Loggerhead
(Caretta caretta)
Green Turtle
(Chelonia mydas)
Hawksbill
(Eretmochelys imbricata)