Marine Life with Brenda

The blue-green chromis  Chromis viridis is an endangered species. Individuals appear to be apple-green and light blue iridescent, reaching a median length of 10 cm. The species is found in the Indo-Pacific with the Red Sea included. Adults of this species can grow to a maximum length of up to 10 centimetres. They have 12 dorsal rays on their fins, 9 to 11 soft dorsal rays, 2 anal spines and 9 to 11 anal soft rays. Males become more yellowish when they are breeding. Chromis viridis breed over debris and sand. The male prepares the nest that is shared with a few females. The nest is in the sand or on debris. The male becomes more yellowish in colour, during spawning. Large numbers of eggs will hatch in 2–3 days. The male watches over the nest, ventilating it with its fins and feeding on those eggs that do not hatch. Males feed on unhatched eggs to keep them from being breeding grounds for the life-threatening micro-organisms.

Sea goldie  The sea goldie ( Pseudanthias squamipinnis ) in the subfamily Anthiinae is a small genus of colourful fish. The sea goldie is present in the west Indian Ocean like the Red Sea, and as far east as Japan and southeast Australia in the Pacific Ocean. The fish lives in transparent lagoons, patch reefs and steep slopes down to a depth of 35 metres around coral outcrops. Males have a reddish purple pattern on their pectoral fins, and appear to live with several females in closed groups. They tend to live around rocky reefs or areas covered with corals.  All of these fish are born as females but they change sex as appropriate after forming a large group. Small schools may have only one male, but larger schools can be between 10-30% male.

Chromodoris magnifica Chromodoris magnifica in the Chromodorididae family is a sea slug, a genus of nudibranch, a shellless marine gastropod mollusk. This nudibranch is found from Indonesia and the Philippines to New Guinea and East Australia, in the central area of the Indo-Pacific zone. It can grow to a maximum length of 60 mm. The body is elongated with a foot that is separate from the upper body by a skirt like a mantle partially covering the foot. Chromodoris magnifica feeds on sponges, and feed on red and grey sponges.