When surfing the internet you always find lists of the ugliest, weirdest fish and creatures in this world. It’s like we go out of our way to find the bizarre but often forget to stop and look at the good and the beautiful. Here’s a list of the most colorful, graceful and majestic fish that live in our coral reef. As a diver, it brings back your first diving experiences and these beauties of the reefs, not the thrill of the deep are my reason for diving again and again.
Most Beautiful & Colorful Coral Reef Fish
Parrotfish
Easily distinguished by their peculiar beak shaped mouth. With over 90 species of parrotfish come in the most bright colors from parrot green, to shades of blue, reds and yellows. These fish are found in abundance in shallow reefs around the world, including the Red Sea, Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
An interesting fact about this species is that they are largely responsible for the fine white sand of many tropical coral islands today. While breaking of chunks of coral and rocky substrates for algae they grind up the coral rock and excrete the same as a fine sand which have over the thousands of years helped create the small islands and sandy beaches in the Bahamas and Caribbean. One parrot fish can produce up to 90kgs (approx. 198 pounds) of sand each year.
Triggerfish
Often the most patterned fish in the sea triggerfish are very oval with a large head and similar to the Parrotfish it has a strong jawed mouth with teeth, for crushing shells. Of the many types of triggerfish, the clown trigger is the most popular as the prettiest because of its leopard-like spots on its top half and big white spots on the bottom half, outlined by the bright yellow on its tail and mouth.
The Picasso trigger is also an unusual appearance which is like a work of art. It features a creamy grayish-tan and white colored body splashed with many distinctive bright blue and yellow fine-line, and golden, black and white wide-band type markings. Additionally, some triggerfish like the Picasso and the Titan trigger make circular rock nests and are fiercely protective of them. They have attacked divers and snorkelers anywhere near the vicinity of their nests, and which their hard jaw and large size they can cause serious injury.
Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Also known as the harlequin mantis shrimp or painted mantis shrimp, the Peacock Mantis Shrimp is looks a lot like a mantis from the front. Called a peacock because of the bright colors on its tail, this shrimp, contrary to its colorful exterior, can be quite aggressive and keep in a salt water aquarium will eat up most of the tank’s occupants.
In fact, they are able to break through thick aquarium glass and often stay solitary in acrylic tanks. While diving this large shrimp is native to the Indo-Pacific region from Guam to East Africa.
Blue-faced Angelfish
Not be confused with the freshwater angelfish, marine angelfish with their vibrant colors are some of the more conspicuous residents of the reef. With over 86 different types of angelfish, the blue-faced is just one of many beautiful fish to choose from. Most marine angelfishes restrict themselves to the shallows of the reef. They seldom venture deeper than 50m and live in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific oceans.
Threadfin Butterflyfish
Butterflyfish look like smaller versions of angelfish and live in the same regions. The common name butterflyfish references the brightly colored and strikingly patterned bodies, bearing shades of black, white, blue, red, orange and yellow. Some species are dull in color however. Many have eyespots on their flanks and dark bands across their eyes, not unlike the patterns seen on butterfly wings. The threadfin butterflyfish is a beautifully patterned white, black and bright yellow fish.
