Endemic fish in the Red Sea

Here we offer you a few deeper insights into the endemic fish world in the Red Sea.

Red Sea bannerfish: This is a small, colourful fish that lives in shallow coral reefs, lagoons and seaward reef slopes in the Red Sea. It has a white dorsal fin with a long filament, yellow ventral and caudal fins and two black stripes on its body. It feeds on zooplankton. ¹ ²
Red Sea butterflyfish: This is a species of butterflyfish that is only found in the Red Sea. It has a yellow body with black horizontal stripes, a black eye spot on the dorsal fin and a white spot on the forehead. It lives in coral reefs and feeds on invertebrates and algae. ⁴ ⁵ ⁶
Red Sea Lemon Butterflyfish: This is another species of butterflyfish that is common in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific. It has a yellow-brown body with dark spots and dots, a white V-shaped area on the pectoral fin and a white edge on the dorsal fin. It lives in coral reefs and lagoons and feeds on plankton and fish eggs. ¹³ ¹⁴
Red Sea Anemonefish: This is a species of anemonefish that lives in symbiosis with five species of sea anemones. It has a brown body with two white stripes, a yellow belly and a yellow tail fin. It lives in shallow coral reefs and protects its anemone partners from predators. It feeds on zooplankton and algae. ⁷ ⁸ ⁹
Red Sea scorpionfish: This is a large and powerful species of scorpionfish found in the Mediterranean and north-east Atlantic. It has a broad head with spines and skin flaps, a robust body with large scales and a reddish-brown colour. It lives on sand and rubble bottoms near coral reefs and feeds on fish and crustaceans. It has venomous spines on its dorsal and anal fins, which can be dangerous to humans. ¹⁶ ¹⁷
Red Sea thresher shark: This is a rare and unusual species of shark that lives in the coastal waters of the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific. It has a long, slender body with a very long caudal fin that is almost half its length. It is grey or brown in colour with a white V-shaped area on the pectoral fin. It lives in shallow coral reefs and lagoons and feeds on schooling fish, which it stuns with its caudal fin. It is oviparous and lays eggs in a shell. ¹⁸ ¹⁹ ²⁰
Red Sea zebra shark: This is a large and conspicuous species of shark that lives in the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. It has a high-backed, laterally flattened body with a very long caudal fin. It has a yellow-brown colouring with dark stripes as a juvenile and dark spots as an adult. It lives on sand and rubble bottoms near coral reefs and feeds on mussels, snails, crabs and small fish. It is oviparous and lays eggs in a shell. ¹⁸ ²³

If you want to learn more about these and other fish species in the Red Sea, you can click on the links. (External content, mainly in German Language),

Quellen:

1. Rotmeer-Wimpelfisch

2. Heniochus acuminatus Rotmeer-Wimpelfisch, Gemeiner Wimpelfisch

3. Maskenfalterfisch – Wikipedia

4. Falterfische – Wikipedia

5. Rotmeer-Rippen-Falterfisch – Wikipedia

6. Zitronen-Falterfisch – Wikipedia

7. Chaetodon miliaris Zitronen-Falterfisch – Meerwasser-Lexikon

8. Rotmeer-Anemonenfisch – Wikipedia

9. Rotmeer-Anemonenfisch (Amphiprion bicinctus) | Fischlexikon

10. Amphiprion bicinctus Rotmeer Anemonenfisch – Meerwasser-Lexikon

11. Großer Roter Drachenkopf – Wikipedia