Fast Facts for Small Animals of the Caribbean, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
The Caribbean Sea is a tropical body of water adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and southeast of the Gulf of Mexico. It
covers most of the Caribbean Plate and is bounded on the south by Venezuela, Colombia and Panama, to the west by
Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, to the north by the Greater
Antilles Islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles.
The Atlantic Ocean forms a component of the all-encompassing World Ocean and is directly linked to the Arctic Sea,
the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Antarctic in
the south between eastern Americas and Western Europe and Asia, an area that is slightly less than 6.5 times the size
of the United States.
The Gulf of Mexico is a Mediterranean-type sea located at the southeastern corner of North America. The Gulf is
bordered by the United States to the north (Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas), five Mexican states to
the west (Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche and Yucatan), and the island of Cuba to the southeast.
Inhabitants of the Caribbean, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Aquarium
Flame Cardinal (Apogon maculatus)
The Flame Cardinal has a solid red body with a black spot on its tail and one near its head. It has
black eyes with two white horizontal stripes. A nocturnal species, the Flame Cardinal remains
hidden in cracks and crevices during the day.
Pygmy Angelfish (Centropyge argi)
Pygmy Angelfish have bluish-purple bodies with a yellow face and blue rings around their eyes.
Adult males can grow to be up to three inches (7.6cm) in length.
Blue Hamlet (Hypoplectrus gemma)
The Blue Hamlet is a tropical fish native to the Western
Central Atlantic including southern Florida, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas and Mexico.
The fish is an iridescent blue color with thin dark borders along its tail. It is typically a shy
species, preferring to hide among rocks or hover by the substrate.
Juvenile Queen Angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris)
Queen Angelfish inhabit reefs and are common near Florida especially the Florida Keys, the Bahamas
and the Gulf of Mexico. It is seen infrequently in the Bermuda Triangle and as far south as Brazil. The
Queen Angelfish feeds primarily on sponges, but it also enjoys tunicates, jellyfish, corals, plankton
and algae. Juveniles serve as "cleaners" and feed on the parasites of larger fish at cleaning stations.
The adults are found in pairs year round, perhaps suggesting a long-term monogamous relationship.
Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto)
The Royal Gramma is a planktivore, eating mostly zooplankton and crustaceans. Their natural
range covers the Bahamas, Venezuela and the Lesser Antilles. They are carnivorous, eating
most meat-based diets.
Inhabitants of the Caribbean, Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Aquarium
Juvenile Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus)
Porkfish occur in the western Atlantic Ocean from Florida south to Brazil, including
the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea as well as the Bahamas. They have also
been introduced to waters off Bermuda. Porkfish are nocturnal and often travel in
large schools, occasionally swimming with White Grunts. They also make a grunting
sound, common to all grunts, by rubbing their teeth together.
White Grunt (Haemulon plumier)
The distribution of the White Grunt is limited
to the western Atlantic Ocean from the Chesapeake Bay to the eastern Gulf of Mexico and
Caribbean Sea, south to Brazil. It has also been introduced to Bermuda. The White Grunt is
commonly found from the shoreline to the outer reef edge and occasionally offshore over
hard bottoms. The adults form schools with other species of fish during the day over coral
reefs or sandy bottoms. Juvenile White Grunts reside inshore in sea grass beds, seeking the
shelter among the spines of the sea urchin. These juveniles organize into schools according
to size. Grunts produce grunting sounds, hence their common name, by grinding the
pharyngeal teeth, amplifying the sound with the air bladder.
Pinfish (Lagodon rhomboids)
The Pinfish inhabits mostly subtropical shallow coastal waters of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts
of the United States and Mexico. Adult pinfish prefer protected waters between 30 and 50
feet deep, while juveniles are common over sea grass beds or other structure such as rocky
bottoms, jetties, pilings and in mangrove areas where there is cover from predators. Pinfish
rarely school, but can be found near each other, especially along structure which supports
barnacles and mollusks. Pinfish eat shrimp, fish eggs, insect larvae, polychaete worms and
amphipods and plants.
Cushion Sea Star (Oreaster reticulatus)
The Cushion Sea Star is large with a central disc surrounded by five short, tapered arms.
This sea star is covered by a hard shell with raised knobby spines. Cushion Sea Stars can
be brown, orange, red or yellow.
Gorgonian (Gorgonacea)
Gorgonacea is an order of sessile colonial cnidarians found throughout the oceans of the world,
especially in the tropics and subtropics. Gorgonians are also known as sea whips or sea fans. They
are similar to the sea pen, another soft coral. Individual tiny polyps form colonies that are
normally erect, flattened, branching and reminiscent of a fan. Others may be whip-like, bushy or
even encrusting.
Coral Banded Shrimp (Stenopus hispidus)
The Banded Coral Shrimp has striking red and white bands across its body with fairly long
pinchers and extra long white antennae. Interestingly, members of the Stenopodidae
family are known as "Boxing Shrimp" because of the large pinchers on their third set of
legs. These pinchers are often held erect and give the Banded Coral Shrimp the
appearance of a boxer ready to fight. Native to tropical oceans all over the world,
Stenopus hispidus is perhaps the most widely distributed shrimp in the sea. It usually
hangs upside-down in caves or crevices with only its antennae emerging from the hole.
While molting, the Banded Coral Shrimp will often hide from sight for one-two days in
the rocks of the reef.