Fish Identification
Identification Group #1
Disks & Ovals/Colorful
• Thin-bodies with round or oval profiles
• All have small mouths & are generally quite colorful
Identification Group #2
Silvery: Jack – Porgy – Others
• Silver to grey in color & generally unpatterned
• Several have greenish, yellowish, & bluish tints with occasional markings
• All have forked tails
Tarpon
Identification Group #3
Sloping Head/ Tapering Body – Grunt – Snapper
• Basic “fishlike” shape
• Relatively large mouths
• Notched tails
Identification Group #4
Small Ovals – Damselfish
• Small fish with oval profile
Identification Group #5
Heavy Bodied – Large Lips – Grouper & Sea Bass• Strong, well-built “bass like” bodies• Large mouth & lips• Jutting lower jaw• Long continuous dorsal fin – divided into 2 parts• Fore part is developed into spines• Rear is soft & flexible
Red Grouper
Identification Group #6
Swim with Pectoral fins/Obvious Scales
Parrotfish – Wrasse – Hogfish
• Primarily use pectoral fins to swim
• Even rows of large noticeable scales
• Beak-like mouth
Rainbow Parrotfish
Spanish Hogfish
Blue Head Wrasse
Identification Group #7
Reddish/Big Eyes
• Pale red to reddish brown
• Large eyes
• Generally nocturnal feeders
• Hide in dark recesses during the day
Identification Group #8
Small Elongated Bottom Dwellers
Goby – Blenny
• Long cylindrical bodies
• Spend most of the time perched on the bottom or in small holes with only their heads protruding
• Few species drift just above the bottom
Neon Goby
Cleaning Goby
Red Lip Blenny
Identification Group #9
Odd shaped bottom dwellers
Flounder – Scorpionfish
Peacock Flounder
Reef Scorpionfish
Identification Group #10
Odd-shaped swimmers
Puffer – Boxfish – Triggers – Filefish
• Do not have typical fish body shape
Identification Group #11
Eels
• Long, snake-like bodies
• Generally found along the bottom in dark reef recesses or in sand
Identification Group #12
Sharks & Rays
• Skeleton composed of cartilage instead of bone
• Small hard scales that give them a sand papery feel
Reef Shark