Marine Life with Brenda

Seagrass  Seagrass is a wonder-plant that lives along our shore in sandy, flooded areas. It is important to our sea's safety, and can help address environmental issues. Seagrass traps carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, and although it occupies just 0.2% of the seabed, it consumes 10% of the ocean's carbon every year, making it an important resource in the fight against climate change. Seagrass is essential to marine life which depends on food and shelter meadows.Seagrass is an important nursery for endangered species including seahorses and many of the fish that we eat, including cod, plaice and pollock.

Copperband Butterflyfish  The Copperband Butterflyfish ( Chelmon rostratus)  is a very notable species, with its elongated snout. It is relatively thin and measures approximately 20 cm. Yet with a sleek form and fluid swimming motions (this wonderful marine creature moves like a bailarina dancing at the sound of the Four Seasons of Vivaldi), it is very attractively coloured and can be found in reefs of the Indian and Pacific Ocean. 

Moorish idol Did you know that Moorish idol have this name because of the Moors of Africa who believed that this beautiful fish could bring happiness. This fish are like my relatives from another ocean (Hahahah).  The Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus) is a species of marine fish, the only known example of the Zanclidae family. The Moorish idol, a typical inhabitant of tropical to subtropical reefs and lagoons, is noteworthy for its wide range throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Blueface angelfish Blueface angelfish ( Pomacanthus xanthometopon ) is a ray-finned fish found in freshwater areas of the Indo-Pacific within the Pomacanthidae family Because of its distinctive facial colouration it is commonly known as the blueface angelfish or the yellowface angelfish. In the eastern part of the tropical Indo-Pacific the yellowface angelfish is found on coral reefs. The range includes the Islands of Maldives, Burma, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been observed periodically off the Florida coast. They enjoy living in lagoons, outer reef slopes and channels down to about 25 metres and can be found swimming around minding their business near caves and between rocks (considering their usual habitat, I think their favourite rock/metal band is Nickelback ).   

Giant grouper  The giant grouper swimmes in warm shallow waters, one of the biggest of all the grouper species. This is one of the largest bony fish swimming through coral reefs. The giant grouper typically swims alone, and likes to remain near coral reefs in the same place. It also swims in caves and shipwrecks close by. Author: Brenda Moita 

Pink sea fan  Pink sea fans ( Eunicella verrucosa ), the large seafan, pink sea fan or warty gorgonian, is a colonial Gorgonian "soft coral" species in the Gorgoniidae family. It is indigenous to the Atlantic Ocean and the western Mediterranean Sea.  This sea fan is a group of individual animals that share a strong shell, or polyps. We live affixed to rocky surfaces beneath the sea, often at right angles to the current to make the most of the moving food; as the anemone-like polyps use their stinging tentacles to capture plankton from the column of water.  Pink sea fans provide other marine life with a bed, including the unusual sea fan anemone, and a sea slug that regularly feeds on their host sea fan. Author: Brenda Moita 

Titan triggerfish  Titan triggerfish ( Balistoides viridescens ) is a large triggerfish species found in lagoons and reefs at depths of 50 m in most of the Indo-Pacific, although it is not found in Hawaii. It is the largest trigger-fish species in its range with a length of up to 75 centimetres. Titan triggerfish is solitary and diurnal. It feeds on sea urchins, molluscs, crustaceans, coral and tubular worms. Here is a piece of advice.  They can be quite aggressive so if you are a beginner diver please don't swim towards them.