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Reef fun facts
189 genuinely delightful things about the fish, corals and inverts we cover — from a pistol shrimp that snaps a bubble hot enough to flash light, to a clownfish born male that can switch sex for life. Because this is Coralkin, every fact is checked against a named source and the aquarium folklore is left out — real wonder, no myths.
Jump to a species, or just scroll and enjoy.
Ocellaris Clownfish
- Every ocellaris clownfish is born male, and the biggest fish in the group can switch sex to become the dominant female for life. Wikipedia
- The layer of mucus coating a clownfish protects it from the anemone's stinging tentacles, letting it shelter safely inside a home that would harm other fish. Wikipedia
- An ocellaris clownfish lives in a strict pecking order inside its anemone, where an established hierarchy keeps each fish at a specific social rank. Wikipedia
Percula Clownfish
- Each percula clownfish is born male, and if the sole breeding female dies the breeding male changes sex to take her place. Wikipedia
- A breeding female percula clownfish can live for roughly 12 years, remarkably long for a fish of its small size. Wikipedia
- The mucus a percula clownfish secretes stops the anemone firing its stinging cells, and the fish also gains partial immunity to the anemone's toxins. Wikipedia
Yellow Tang
- In the wild, yellow tangs can live for over 40 years. Wikipedia
- At night a yellow tang's brilliant colour fades and a brownish patch with a white band appears, then it rapidly turns bright yellow again at daybreak. Wikipedia
- Yellow tangs offer cleaning services to sea turtles, nibbling algae growth off their shells. Wikipedia
Blue Tang
- The blue tang is the real-life species behind the character Dory in Pixar's Finding Nemo and Finding Dory. A-Z Animals
- Like other surgeonfishes, the blue tang carries a sharp scalpel-like spine on each side of its tail base that it uses for defence. A-Z Animals
- The blue tang is venomous, with a venom gland set in a glandular groove near its tail spine. FishBase
Royal Gramma
- The royal gramma is a cleaner fish that picks parasites off the skin of other fish. Wikipedia
- A royal gramma orients its body parallel to whatever surface is nearest, so it will happily swim upside down beneath a ledge — normal, not a sign of illness. Wikipedia
- When threatened, a royal gramma opens its mouth wide in a gaping threat display to ward intruders off its territory. Wikipedia
Firefish Goby
- The firefish hovers just above the seabed facing into the current, waiting for tiny drifting invertebrates to arrive. Wikipedia
- A firefish constantly flicks its very long first dorsal fin back and forth as a signal to other firefish. Wikipedia
- Firefish are monogamous, living in sandy burrows alone or in pairs and darting back inside the moment they feel threatened. Wikipedia
Yellow Watchman Goby
- The yellow watchman goby shares a burrow with a pistol shrimp: the shrimp digs and maintains the home while the sharper-eyed goby stands guard at the entrance. Wikipedia
- When goby and pistol shrimp leave their shared burrow, the shrimp keeps an antenna touching the goby, and the goby warns it of danger with a flick of its tail before both dash back inside. Wikipedia
- The yellow watchman goby forms its partnership specifically with alpheid snapping shrimps such as the tiger pistol shrimp. Wikipedia
Green Clown Goby
- When something disturbs a clown goby it releases a skin toxin that makes other fish lose their balance and even tip over, so predators quickly learn to leave it alone. Wikipedia
- Clown gobies team up with Acropora coral: when the coral is attacked by a toxic seaweed it releases a chemical that summons the goby, which eats the seaweed and grows even more toxic itself. Wikipedia
- A clown goby can change sex in either direction, so when two of the same sex settle on a fresh coral patch, one simply switches to become the pair's mate. Wikipedia
Banggai Cardinalfish
- The Banggai cardinalfish is a devoted father who broods the eggs in his mouth and keeps the newly hatched young sheltered inside it after they hatch. Wikipedia
- In the wild this fish lives naturally in just one place on Earth, the tiny Banggai Islands of Indonesia, a range of only about 5,500 square kilometres. Wikipedia
- Young Banggai cardinalfish shelter unharmed among the venomous spines of long-spined sea urchins, darting in among them the moment danger appears. Wikipedia
Pajama Cardinalfish
- The male pajama cardinalfish is a mouthbrooder, carrying the fertilized eggs inside his mouth for anywhere from 8 to 31 days until they hatch. Wikipedia
- Pajama cardinalfish are socially monogamous, a male and female forming a long-term bond and staying close across several breeding cycles. Wikipedia
- Unlike many schooling fish, pajama cardinalfish sort out their pecking order peacefully and do not use aggression to establish dominance. Wikipedia
Green Chromis
- Green chromis gather in shimmering schools around Acropora coral heads, a living cloud of apple-green above the branches. Wikipedia
- When a male green chromis is ready to breed he turns a warmer yellow, builds a nest on the sand, then guards the eggs and fans them with his fins. Wikipedia
- A guarding male green chromis will eat any eggs that fail to hatch, keeping the nest clean of microbes that could threaten the rest of the clutch. Wikipedia
Six Line Wrasse
- Each night the six-line wrasse tucks into a crevice and wraps itself in a mucus cocoon, thought to hide its scent from predators hunting in the dark. Wikipedia
- Six-line wrasses have been seen working as cleaner fish, picking tiny parasites like copepods and isopods off other fishes. Wikipedia
- To spawn, paired six-line wrasses make a lightning-fast dash toward the surface just before sunset, the sheer speed helping them dodge waiting predators. Wikipedia
Mandarin Dragonet
- The mandarin dragonet is one of only two known vertebrates whose blue colour comes from a true blue pigment cell called a cyanophore, rather than the light tricks that make almost every other blue animal blue. Wikipedia
- A mandarin dragonet has no scales at all, wearing instead a slippery, bitter-smelling slime coat that helps fend off disease and discourage predators. Wikipedia
- The mandarin dragonet gets its name from its dazzling colours, said to recall the ornate robes of an Imperial Chinese mandarin. Wikipedia
Lawnmower Blenny
Coral Beauty Angelfish
- Coral beauty angelfish live in small groups of one male and a few females, and if the male vanishes the most dominant female will change sex and become the new male. Wikipedia
- Out on the reef these little angelfish spend their days grazing on algae and detritus around drop-offs and rubble patches. Wikipedia
- The coral beauty was first formally described back in 1869 by the German-born British naturalist Albert Gunther. Wikipedia
Flame Angelfish
- Flame angelfish live in harems and are broadcast spawners, rising together into the water column at dusk to release their eggs and sperm all at once. Wikipedia
- You can often tell the males apart because they carry more blue along the outer edges of the dorsal and anal fins and tend to be the larger fish. Wikipedia
- Flame angelfish from the Marquesas Islands are a little different from the rest, lacking the vertical black bars that mark the species elsewhere. Wikipedia
Orchid Dottyback
- The orchid dottyback is found nowhere else on Earth but the Red Sea, where it is entirely endemic. Wikipedia
- This vivid purple fish is named in honour of David Fridman of the Maritime Museum in Eilat, Israel, who collected the very first specimen. Wikipedia
- The orchid dottyback is one of the marine fish now bred in captivity, and it is of real commercial importance in the aquarium trade. Wikipedia
Melanurus Wrasse
- Its common name is the tail-spot wrasse, a nod to the dark mark near its tail, and the species name melanurus itself means black-tailed. Wikipedia
- Out on shallow reefs and rocky shores the tail-spot wrasse hunts tiny invertebrates like polychaete worms, copepods and isopods. FishBase
- This little wrasse was first described in 1851 by the Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker. Wikipedia
Lyretail Anthias
- Lyretail anthias are protogynous hermaphrodites living in harems, so when the territorial male dies the largest dominant female slowly transforms over weeks or months into the new male. Wikipedia
- These fish gather in large aggregations above coral outcrops and reef slopes, drifting in the current to feed on zooplankton. FishBase
- Males and females look so different they were once mistaken for separate kinds of fish, with pink females reaching about 7 cm and the fuchsia males growing to twice that with a long trailing dorsal ray. Wikipedia
Flame Hawkfish
- The flame hawkfish has no swim bladder, so instead of floating it props itself up on its sturdy pelvic fins and perches among coral branches like a hawk on a lookout. Wikipedia
- It loves to hide among live branching corals such as Stylophora and Pocillopora, darting deep into the branches if anything approaches. Wikipedia
- Flame hawkfish pair up faithfully, breeding in monogamous pairs as pelagic spawners. Wikipedia
Neon Goby
- The neon goby is a cleaner fish that picks parasites off the skin, fins, mouth and even the gill chambers of much larger fish like groupers. FishBase
- Despite reaching only about 5 cm, this tiny goby ranges along the western Atlantic all the way from Florida down to Belize. Wikipedia
- Neon gobies are monogamous, tending to settle down with a single partner. FishBase
Bicolor Blenny
- The bicolor blenny goes by the wonderful nickname 'flame tail blenny' and is one of the roughly fifty comb-toothed Ecsenius blennies found across the warm Indo-Pacific. Wikipedia
- In the wild it perches on clear lagoon and seaward reefs among mixed corals and algae-covered rocks, and lays sticky eggs that anchor to the seafloor by a tiny adhesive pad. FishBase
Tailspot Blenny
Midas Blenny
- The Midas blenny is named after King Midas of Greek myth, who turned everything he touched to gold, a nod to its glowing golden-orange colour. Wikipedia
- This clever blenny can shift its colouring to match the fish it swims among, and is often seen mingling with schools of lyretail anthias. Wikipedia
- Unlike most reef blennies that graze algae from rocks, the Midas blenny is a planktivore that darts out into open water to snatch drifting plankton. Wikipedia
Kole Tang
- The kole tang is found nowhere else on Earth but the Hawaiian Islands and nearby Johnston Atoll. Wikipedia
- It feeds by whisking dozens of fine, comb-like teeth over the reef and sweeping up detritus as it closes its mouth, earning the nickname 'bristletooth'. FishBase
- Its genus name Ctenochaetus comes from the Greek for 'comb' and 'hair', a direct reference to those distinctive bristle-like teeth. FishBase
Powder Blue Tang
- Like all surgeonfishes, the powder blue tang carries a hidden 'surgeon's scalpel', a sharp erectable spine at the base of its tail that it can raise as a defensive weapon. Wikipedia
- Its scientific name leucosternon combines the Greek words for 'white' and 'breast', a nod to the crisp white chest that offsets its powder-blue sides. Wikipedia
- A fish of the Indian Ocean, it is usually solitary and territorial, but when algae is plentiful it will gather to feed in large shoals. Wikipedia
Zoanthids
- Some zoanthids in the genera Palythoa and Zoanthus carry palytoxin, considered one of the most poisonous non-protein substances known. Wikipedia
- An ancient Hawaiian legend told of a cursed tide pool near Hana whose deadly moss, called limu-make-o-Hana or seaweed of death, turned out to be a palytoxin-bearing zoanthid. Wikipedia
- Zoanthids are colonial animals whose offspring stay linked to the parent polyp by a connecting mat, and many even weave grains of sand into their own tissue for structure. Wikipedia
Mushroom Coral
- The glowing red fluorescent protein dTomato, now widely used as a marker in molecular biology, was first derived from a Discosoma mushroom coral. Wikipedia
- Mushroom corals come in a great variety of colours, including metallic and fluorescent shades along with striped and spotted patterns. Wikipedia
- These disc-shaped animals are cnidarians that host photosynthetic zooxanthellae in their tissues, absorbing the nutrients those tiny algae produce. Wikipedia
Green Star Polyp
- The vivid green of many corals comes not from their algae but from the animal's own green fluorescent proteins, the same family of pigments that revolutionised biology as glowing cell markers. Wikipedia
- Corals are animals that partner with plant-like algae called zooxanthellae living inside their tissues, and it is these algae that give many corals their colour. NOAA
Pulsing Xenia
- Xenia is unique among corals for its ability to rhythmically pulse, opening and closing its many-fingered hands to push water away from the colony in a constant grabbing motion. Wikipedia
- Pulsing xenia is a photosynthetic soft coral that resembles a tiny mushroom, with arms rising from the top that end in many-fingered hands. Wikipedia
Hammer Coral
- Hammer coral is a large-polyped stony coral, meaning each fleshy polyp builds its own hard limestone skeleton beneath its billowing tentacles. Wikipedia
- Like all stony corals, a hammer coral's tentacles are armed with tiny stinging structures called nematocysts that fire to paralyse prey. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Torch Coral
- The torch coral is a large-polyped stony coral whose long flowing tentacles hide a hard skeleton each polyp secretes for itself. Wikipedia
- A torch coral is an animal, not a plant, and gets much of its energy from photosynthetic algae living inside its tissues that hand over as much as ninety percent of the food they make. NOAA
Frogspawn Coral
- Frogspawn coral is a large-polyped stony coral, and several of its Euphyllia relatives are aquarium favourites for their waving, bubble-tipped tentacles. Wikipedia
- Beneath its soft tentacles, a frogspawn coral polyp secretes a hard skeleton of limestone, the same calcium carbonate that over generations builds entire coral reefs. NOAA
Duncan Coral
- Duncan coral is the only species in its entire genus, a one-of-a-kind stony coral that scientists call a monotypic genus. Wikipedia
- Its charming nickname is the whisker coral, and in the wild it grows in branching or clustered colonies near the base of reefs from Australia to the South China Sea. Wikipedia
- Duncan coral belongs to the family Dendrophylliidae, most of whose members are sun-coral relatives that cannot photosynthesise and must instead catch food with their tentacles. Wikipedia
Acan Coral
- The dazzling acan coral is often painted in two contrasting shades at once, mixing reds, oranges, purples, blues and greens on a single colony. Wikipedia
- Long known to hobbyists as the Acan Lord, this coral was reclassified by scientists in 2016 from the genus Acanthastrea into Micromussa. Wikipedia
- A single acan coral colony can spread into a low clump up to two metres across on shallow Indo-Pacific reefs. Wikipedia
Montipora
- With about eighty-five known species, Montipora is the second most species-rich coral genus in the world, ranking just behind Acropora. Wikipedia
- Montipora is a shapeshifter of the reef, growing as flat plates, ruffled leaves, thin crusts or branches, and a single colony can even show more than one of these forms at once. Wikipedia
- These reef builders live across the Red Sea, the western Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific, yet are entirely absent from the Atlantic Ocean. Wikipedia
Birdsnest Coral
- The thin birdsnest coral weaves a tangled, bushy clump of fragile, slender branches with pointed tips that can grow to a metre across. Wikipedia
- Every birdsnest coral is a hermaphrodite, with mature polyps making both sperm and eggs, and the mother colony broods its developing larvae until they are ready to swim. Wikipedia
- Its larvae settle within about a day of release, so many baby corals put down roots just a few tens of metres from their parent. Wikipedia
Acropora
- Acropora corals are some of the major reef corals responsible for building the immense calcium carbonate framework that supports the thin living skin of a coral reef. Wikipedia
- They grow remarkably fast, with a finger-sized fragment able to become a medicine-ball-sized colony in just one to two years. Wikipedia
- Acropora is a hugely diverse group with over 149 described species, spread across the Indo-Pacific and, with just three species, the Caribbean. Wikipedia
Toadstool Leather Coral
- Leather corals periodically shed the surface layer of their leathery skin, a self-cleaning trick that helps rid the colony of unwanted algal growth. Wikipedia
- A leather coral colony often carries two kinds of polyps: tall feeding polyps that emerge only when fully underwater, and hidden ones below that simply pump water through the colony. Wikipedia
- Though soft and pliable-looking, leather corals host the same sunlight-harvesting algae called zooxanthellae that stony corals do, sharing sugars made from sunlight. Wikipedia
Kenya Tree Coral
- Kenya tree corals are soft corals that form thick trunks and branches closely resembling little trees. Wikipedia
- Their colour is tuned by the light, growing paler in bright light and darker in dimmer conditions. Wikipedia
- In stronger currents Kenya tree corals reshape themselves into flatter colonies with shorter branches. Wikipedia
Ricordea Mushroom
- Ricordea florida is not a true stony coral at all but a corallimorph, a soft relative of anemones and corals that builds no stony skeleton. Wikipedia
- Under ultraviolet light Ricordea florida glows with bright fluorescence, one of the reasons its jewel-like colours are so prized. Wikipedia
- This little coral lives only on the far side of the world from the Pacific reefs, calling the Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico home. Wikipedia
Candy Cane Coral
Open Brain Coral
- The open brain coral is a free-living coral that rests loose on soft sediment rather than cementing itself to the reef. Wikipedia
- It is the sole member of its genus, a one-of-a-kind coral with no close cousins to share the name Trachyphyllia. Wikipedia
- By day its fleshy mantle balloons out well beyond the edge of its own skeleton, hiding the stony cup completely from view. Wikipedia
Plate Coral
- Plate corals are among the rare corals that can crawl, using a slow benthic locomotion to inch across the seabed. Wikipedia
- A Fungia begins life cemented to a rock as a youngster, then detaches as it grows and spends adulthood as a solitary, free-living coral loose on the reef floor. Wikipedia
- Some of its plate coral relatives can even change sex, apparently switching in response to environmental or energetic pressures. Wikipedia
Blastomussa
- A young Blastomussa colony fans out from one shared dome, but over time its cups drift apart until the coral is really a cluster of cloned, near-solitary individuals. Wikipedia
- Blastomussa keeps its polyps tucked away all day and only unfurls them at night. Wikipedia
- Scientists still are not certain which coral family Blastomussa truly belongs to. Wikipedia
Goniopora (Flowerpot)
- The flowerpot coral earns its name from its many long, daisy-like polyps that reach out from the base, each one tipped with 24 stinging tentacles around a mouth. Wikipedia
- Unlike many reef corals that crave crystal-clear water, Goniopora naturally thrives in lagoons and turbid, cloudy conditions. Wikipedia
Stylophora
- Stylophora pistillata is one of science's favourite corals, commonly used in research investigations into how corals live and grow. Wikipedia
- This coral rents out rooms to a whole neighbourhood of tenants, sheltering gall crabs, boring clams, barnacles, Christmas tree worms and damselfish. Wikipedia
Pocillopora
- Pocillopora damicornis is a brooder that keeps its eggs and sperm inside, then releases batches of swimming larvae into the sea around the time of the new moon. Wikipedia
- Its larvae carry a rich fatty yolk and are such great travellers that they can stay viable adrift for as long as 100 days. Wikipedia
- When a colony is broken apart, the loose chunks can settle on the seabed and grow into brand-new corals, letting it multiply through fragmentation. Wikipedia
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
- Skunk cleaner shrimp set up cleaning stations where fish line up to have parasites and dead skin picked off, and this tidying-up makes up a large part of the shrimp's diet. Wikipedia
- Every mature cleaner shrimp is both male and female at once, a rare arrangement called protandric simultaneous hermaphroditism that is unique to Lysmata among all the decapod crustaceans. Wikipedia
- When a pair mates they take turns playing the male and the female, so with the next moult their roles, and their apparent sex, simply reverse. Wikipedia
Peppermint Shrimp
- A peppermint shrimp starts life as a male and later becomes a hermaphrodite, acting as a male between moults and as a female in the brief window right after moulting. Wikipedia
- Male peppermint shrimp find mates by smell, using scent organs on their antennae to pick up the pheromones a female releases into the water a few hours before she moults. Wikipedia
Trochus Snail
- The inside of a trochus snail's thick cone-shaped shell is lined with pearly, iridescent nacre, the same mother-of-pearl that was once cut into buttons and jewellery. Wikipedia
Nassarius Snail
Bubble Tip Anemone
- The bubble-tip anemone is a remarkable host, sheltering 14 different kinds of anemonefish, around half of all the clownfish species in the world. Wikipedia
- Besides releasing eggs and sperm, a bubble-tip anemone can also copy itself by splitting lengthwise down the middle, a form of asexual reproduction called longitudinal fission. Wikipedia
- Young bubble-tip anemones may start out with only about 20 tentacles, gradually adding more as they grow older. Wikipedia
Long-Tentacle Anemone
- The long-tentacle anemone keeps its column buried in the sediment with only its flared crown of tentacles at the surface, and it can pull its whole body down into the sand when disturbed. Wikipedia
- Its long, evenly tapering tentacles sometimes curl into a corkscrew shape, which is why it is also known as the corkscrew tentacle sea anemone. Wikipedia
- The long-tentacle anemone is a natural home for five different species of anemonefish that live safely among its stinging tentacles. Wikipedia
Magnificent Anemone
- The magnificent anemone hosts 12 species of anemonefish, making it one of the most welcoming clownfish landlords on the reef. Wikipedia
- Its wide oral disc usually spans 20 to 50 centimetres, but in some individuals it can stretch to a full metre across. Wikipedia
- This anemone is named for its brilliantly coloured column, the outer body wall revealed when it retracts, which can glow electric blue, green, red, pink or purple. Wikipedia
Sebae Anemone
- The sebae anemone is remarkably welcoming, serving as a host to as many as fifteen different species of anemonefish that shelter unharmed among its long tentacles. Wikipedia
- It feeds in two very different ways, drawing energy from tiny algae living inside its own tissues while also capturing small prey with its stinging tentacles. Wikipedia
- Its slender tentacles can stretch 10 to 15 centimetres and are often tipped with a delicate purple or blue spot. Wikipedia
Carpet Anemone
- Haddon's carpet anemone is a true giant, spreading its flat sticky disc to roughly 50 to 80 centimetres across. Wikipedia
- It shares its home with six different species of clownfish, and its carpet even shelters porcelain crabs and tiny sexy shrimp. Wikipedia
- Beneath its velvety appearance, its tentacles immobilise small prey using potent natural toxins. Wikipedia
Rock Flower Anemone
- The rock flower anemone comes in a dazzling range of colours, from sandy buff to dull green or even bright red, with tentacle tips that shift from green to lavender, yellow or white. Wikipedia
- It usually keeps its body buried in the sand and anchored to a hidden rock, so at the first sign of trouble it can pull itself down out of sight. Wikipedia
- Its flat disc is edged with about 200 short tentacles that are often decorated with swollen cross-bars, giving it a beaded look. Wikipedia
Condy Anemone
- The toxin in this Caribbean anemone's stinging cells has drawn scientists' attention, and studies of its neurons found neurofilament-like proteins molecularly similar to those in mammal neurons, offering clues to how nervous systems evolved. Wikipedia
- Though it looks rooted in place, the giant Caribbean anemone can actually crawl slowly across the seabed using its pedal disc. Wikipedia
- It acts as a living cleaning station on the reef, providing shelter to small fish and cleaner shrimp that gather around it. Wikipedia
Emerald Crab
Blue-Leg Hermit Crab
- Blue-leg hermit crabs sport striking blue legs marked with red banding between each segment. Wikipedia
- They graze together in loose groups much like grazing cattle, all drifting in one general direction as they feed from dusk through the night. Wikipedia
- This species engages in shell fighting, where one crab flips a rival onto its back and repeatedly bangs its shell down until the loser is evicted from its home. Wikipedia
Scarlet Hermit Crab
- The scarlet hermit crab is a striking sight, with a bright red body set off by yellow eyestalks. Wikipedia
- Its soft, unarmoured abdomen is left unprotected, so the crab keeps it tucked safely inside a borrowed snail shell. Wikipedia
- It ranges across the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico and can be found from the shoreline down to depths of about 80 metres. Wikipedia
Cerith Snail
- Cerith snails belong to an ancient lineage of sea snails whose fossil record stretches all the way back to the Triassic period, well over 200 million years ago. Wikipedia
Turbo Snail
- A Turbo snail carries a thick, dome-shaped calcareous trapdoor called an operculum, and the polished opercula of some species are so pretty they have been set into jewellery and buttons as gems known as cat's-eyes. Wikipedia
Nerite Snail
- The name nerite comes from Nerites, a sea god of ancient Greek mythology. Wikipedia
Fighting Conch
- Instead of gliding smoothly like most sea snails, a conch travels in a series of hops, digging a pointed, claw-shaped foot-flap into the seabed and pole-vaulting itself forward. Wikipedia
- A conch peers out at the world through a pair of surprisingly sophisticated eyes perched on long stalks, each tipped with a colourful ring-marked eye. Wikipedia
Tuxedo Urchin
- A sea urchin chews with an intricate five-toothed jaw apparatus called Aristotle's lantern, which it extrudes to scrape algae from rock. Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Some sea urchins use their tube feet to hold bits of seaweed or shell over themselves like a little parasol, shielding their bodies from bright sunlight in shallow water. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Serpent Star
- Serpent and brittle stars are the sprinters of the seabed, moving in rapid rowing jerks by wriggling their whip-like arms rather than creeping along on tube feet like their sea-star cousins. Wikipedia
- A brittle star can deliberately cast off an arm to escape a predator, much as a lizard drops its tail, and then simply grow the missing arm back. Wikipedia
- More than 60 species of brittle star can glow in the dark, most of them shining with a soft green light. Wikipedia
Fire Shrimp
- Fire shrimp are simultaneous hermaphrodites, so every mature individual carries both male and female roles at once, meaning any two of them can pair up and breed. Wikipedia
- This brilliant red shrimp is a cleaner, waving its conspicuous white antennae to invite passing fish over for a grooming session. Wikipedia
- The fire shrimp's scientific name, debelius, honours Helmut Debelius, the naturalist who collected the first specimens and sent them off to be identified. Wikipedia
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
- The tiger pistol shrimp snaps its oversized claw so fast it fires a jet of water forming a collapsing cavitation bubble, and that collapse even emits a brief flash of light too faint for our eyes to see. Wikipedia
- The collapsing bubble from a snapping shrimp's claw briefly reaches thousands of degrees, hot enough that the light it gives off would require a temperature rivalling the surface of the Sun. Wikipedia
- The nearly blind tiger pistol shrimp shares its burrow with a goby fish in a classic partnership: the shrimp does the digging while the goby stands guard and warns of danger the shrimp cannot see. Wikipedia
Coral Banded Shrimp
- The coral banded shrimp is a cleaner that advertises its services to passing fish by slowly waving its long white antennae like a signal flag. Wikipedia
- Unusually for an invertebrate, the coral banded shrimp can recognise individual members of its own species, most likely by reading chemical signals. Wikipedia
- Coral banded shrimp are monogamous, a pair holding a shared territory on the reef roughly one to two metres across. Wikipedia
Every fact here is drawn from a named authority — FishBase, the individual Wikipedia species pages, NOAA, Encyclopaedia Britannica and A-Z Animals — and checked against that source before it went up. We deliberately leave out the fun-sounding trivia that turns out to be folklore. How we fact-check →