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Bluespotted stingray (taeniura lymma)
The bluespotted
ribbontail ray or blue dot ray,
Taeniura lymma, is a
stingray of the
family
Dasyatidae, found around
coral reefs in the
tropical
Indo-West Pacific, between
latitudes 32° N and 30° S.
Reproduction is
ovoviviparous. Ovivoparous
reproduction mean that the eggs are kept
within the mother's body unitil they are
ready to hatch or are about to hatch.
The only known
predator of the bluespotted ribbontail
ray is the
hammerhead shark.
common
lionfish
or devil
firefish (prerois volitans)
Length up to 35 cm.
This
lionfish varies in colour
from reddish to tan or grey, and has a
feathery dorsal fin and wing-like
pectoral fin. Its face is less angular
than the Volitan Lionfish.
Areas with crevices or lagoons, often on
the outer slope of
coral reefs. Fin spines are
highly venomous and can be dangerous to
humans.
Giant
moray (Gymnothorax javanicus)
As
the name suggests, this is a large
eel, reaching up to 300 cm
(9.8 ft) in length and 30 kg (66.1 lbs)
in weight. While juveniles are tan in
colour with large black spots, adults
have black specks that grade into
leopard-like spots behind the head and a
black area surrounding the
gill opening.
Great white shark (Carcharodon
carcharias)
The great white
shark, Carcharodon carcharias,
also known as great white,
white pointer, white shark,
or white death, is an
exceptionally large
lamniform
shark found in coastal
surface waters in all major
oceans. Reaching lengths of
more than 6 metres (20 ft) and weighing
up to 2,240 kilograms (4,938 lb), the
great white shark is arguably the
world's largest known predatory
fish. It is the only
surviving
species of its
genus, Carcharodon. A
typical adult great white shark measures
4–4.8
metres (13–16 ft)
and has a mass of 680–1,100
kilograms (1,500–2,400 lb),
females generally being larger than
males. The great white shark's "normal"
maximum size is about 6 m (20 ft), with
a "normal" maximum weight of about
1,900 kg (4,200 lb). Great white sharks
are
carnivorous, and primarily
eat
fish (including
rays,
tuna, and smaller
sharks),
dolphins,
porpoises,
whale carcasses and
pinnipeds such as
seals,
fur seals and
sea lions and sometimes
sea turtles.
Sea otters and
penguins are attacked at
times although rarely, if ever, eaten.
Great whites have also been known to eat
objects that they are unable to digest.
In great white sharks above 3.41 metres
(11 ft) a diet consisting of a higher
proportion of mammals has been observed.[16]
These sharks prefer prey with high
contents of energy-rich fat. Shark
expert Peter Klimley used a rod-and-reel
rig and trolled carcasses of a seal, a
pig, and a sheep to his boat in the
South
Farallons. The sharks
attacked all three baits but rejected
the sheep carcass.
Hammerhead sharks
( Sphyrnidae)
Hammerhead sharks are consummate
predators that use their oddly shaped
heads to improve their ability to find
prey. Their wide-set eyes give them a
better visual range than most other
sharks. And by spreading their highly
specialized sensory organs over their
wide, mallet-shaped head, they can more
thoroughly scan the ocean for food.
One group of sensory organs is the
ampullae of Lorenzini, which allows
sharks to detect, among other things,
the electrical fields created by prey
animals. The hammerhead's increased
ampullae sensitivity allows it to find
its favorite meal, stingrays, which
usually bury themselves under the sand.
The great hammerhead is the largest of
the nine identified species of this
shark. It can grow up to 20 feet (6
meters) in length and weigh up to 1,000
pounds (450 kg), although smaller sizes
are more common.
Of the nine known
species of hammerhead, three can be
dangerous to humans: the scalloped,
great, and smooth hammerheads.
Oceanic
whitetip shark (Carcharhinus
longimanus)
The oceanic
whitetip shark, Carcharhinus
longimanus, is a large
pelagic
shark of tropical and warm
temperate seas. It is a stocky shark,
most notable for its long, white-tipped,
rounded
fins.
This aggressive but
slow-moving fish dominates
feeding frenzies, and is a
danger to survivors of oceanic
shipwrecks and downed aircraft — it has
attacked more humans than all other
shark species combined. Recent studies
have shown that its numbers are in steep
decline as its large fins are highly
valued as the chief ingredient of
shark fin soup and, as with
other shark species, the oceanic
whitetip faces mounting pressure from
fishing throughout its range.
C. longimanus
feeds mainly on pelagic
cephalopods and bony fish.
However, its diet can be far more varied
and less selective—it is known to eat
threadfins,
stingrays,
sea turtles, birds,
gastropods,
crustaceans, mammalian
carrion, and even rubbish dumped from
ships. The bony fish it feeds on include
lancetfish,
oarfish,
barracuda,
jacks, dolphinfish,
marlin,
tuna, and
mackerel. Its methods of
predation include biting into groups of
fish and swimming through schools of
tuna with an open mouth. When feeding
with other species, it becomes
aggressive. The shark is
viviparous—the embryos
develop in utero and are fed by a
placental sac. It has a
gestation period of one year.
Litter sizes vary from one to 15 with
the young born at a length of about 0.6 metres
. Sexual maturity is reached at close to
1.75 metres for males and 2 metres for
females. The oceanic whitetip poses a
minimal threat to bathers or inshore
sportsman, but a high risk for humans
caught in the open ocean in conditions
in which they might be seen as prey.
Great
barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda)
Barracudas are
elongated
fish with powerful
jaws. The lower jaw of the
large
mouth juts out beyond the
upper. Barracudas possess strong,
fang-like
teeth. These are unequal in
size and set in
sockets in the jaws on the
roof of the mouth. The
head is quite large and is
pointed and
pike-like in appearance. The
gill-covers do not have
spines and are covered with small
scales. The two
dorsal fins are widely
separated, with the first having five
spines and the second having one spine
and nine soft rays. The second dorsal
fin equals the anal fin in size and is
situated more or less above it. The
lateral line is prominent and extends
straight from head to
tail. The spinous dorsal fin
is placed above the pelvics. The hind
end of the
caudal fin is forked or
concave. It is set at the end
of a stout peduncle. The
pectoral fins are placed low
down on the sides. The barracuda
swim bladder is large.
In general, the
barracuda's coloration is dark green or
a blue type coloration or grey above
chalky-white below. This varies
somewhat. Sometimes there is a row of
darker cross-bars or black spots on each
side. The fins may be yellowish or
dusky.
Titan
Triggerfish (pseudobalister fuscus)
The
titan triggerfish, Balistoides
viridescens, is the largest of the
triggerfish species and can
grow up to 75 cm in length (30 inches).
Titan triggerfish feed on
shellfish,
urchins,
crustaceans and
coral. They are the workers
of the reef, often being busy turning
over rocks, stirring up the sand and
biting off pieces of branching coral.
This is why one often sees other smaller
fish species around it who feed from the
left overs. The fish can be very
aggressive towards divers and
snorkellers. Especially during
reproduction season it is very
territorial and will guard its nest,
which it lays in a flat sandy area,
vigorously against any intruders. Due to
its size and strong teeth it can inflict
serious injury.
electric
ray or
Gulf
torpedo (Torpedo sinuspersici)
The Gulf torpedo has
a rounded
pectoral fin disc, 84% as
wide as long. The
tail is short and stocky,
bearing two small, subtriangular
dorsal fins placed very close
together, with the second three-quarters
the size of the first. The
pelvic fins are fleshy and
partly fused to the disc, while the
caudal fin is small and
broadly rounded. The
eyes are small; the
spiracles are larger than the
eyes in adults and bear 9-10
papillae on the rim. The
skin is smooth. The
mouth is wide and contains
small, sharply cusped
teeth.[4][2]
It measures up to 130 cm long, although
most are less than 100 cm.[1]
The
angling record from
South Africa is 13 kg.
This species has
distinctive dorsal coloration, composed
of a base brown color with strong, thick
cream or white vermiculations over the
disc, pelvic fins, and tail, with many
cream-colored irregular spots, no larger
than eye diameter, on the anterior and
lateral disc regions. However, the
coloration varies somewhat within the
species. Some specimens have
cream-colored brain-shaped figures or
rosettes over the disc and tail,
becoming smaller towards the disc
margins, along with small spots
laterally on the disc and the front of
the snout.
Honeycomb
stingray
The honeycomb
stingray is widely distributed in the
Indo-Pacific region, from the
eastern coast of
South Africa and the
Red Sea to
Australia and
French Polynesia, including
Mozambique,
India,
Indonesia, the
Philippines, and
Taiwan. It has also colonized
the eastern
Mediterranean Sea through the
Suez Canal. This species is
found in shallow waters from the
intertidal zone to a depth of
50 meters (160 ft), at temperatures of
23-26° C (73-79° F). It is commonly
encountered over soft
sediment around
beaches,
estuaries,
lagoons, and
coral reefs. This large
species has been reported to a disk
width of 2 meters (6.6 ft) and a weight
of 120 kg (260 lbs). With its very long
tail, it reaches 6 meters (20 ft) in
length.[2]
The
pectoral fin disk is thick
and diamond-shaped, wider than it is
long, with a broad triangular
snout. The
mouth is relatively small,
with 4-5
papillae on the floor. There
are 26-40 rows of
teeth in the
upper jaw and 27-44 rows in
the
lower jaw. The extremely
thin, whip-like tail measures 3-3.5
times the length of the body when
intact. The tail mounts a single
serrated spine and no fin folds. A broad
band of flattened, heart-shaped
dermal denticles extend from
between the eyes to over the base of the
tail, becoming more dense as the ray
ages.
Several color morphs
are known for the honeycomb stingray,
which may turn out to be distinct
species. Generally, juveniles are yellow
to brown with a closely spaced pattern
of dark spots on the dorsal pattern and
around 7 spots in a line between the
spiracles. In adults, the
dorsal ornamentation becomes denser,
forming a fine, complex pattern of dark
brown lines and spots on a white to
orange background. The underside is pale
and unadorned. The tail has alternating
black and white bands past the spine.
Stonefish
(Synanceia verrucosa)
Moderately oblong
body; compressed at sides; free of
scales. Massive head covered with crests
and spines. Very obvious eyes turn
upward, as does the mouth. Very
well-developed pectoral fins. Excellent
camouflage; virtually indistinguishable
from a stone. Glands at base of spines
produce a vary powerfull, sometimes
fatal poison.
Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo
cuvier)
The tiger shark,
Galeocerdo cuvier is a species of
requiem shark and the only
member of the
genus Galeocerdo.
Mature sharks average 3.25 to 4.25
m long and weigh 385 to 635
kilograms. It can attain a length of
over 7.25 m and a weight of 3,110 kg at
maximum. It is found in many of the
tropical and
temperate regions of the
world's oceans, and is especially common
around islands in the central
Pacific. This shark is a
solitary hunter, usually hunting at
night. Its name is derived from the dark
stripes down its body, which fade as the
shark matures.
The tiger shark is a
predator, known for eating a
wide range of items. Its usual diet
consists of
fish,
seals,
birds, smaller sharks,
squid,
turtles, and dolphins. It has
sometimes been found with man-made waste
such as
license plates or pieces of
old
tires in its
digestive tract and is often
referred to as "the wastebasket of the
sea".
This shark may be
easily identified due to its dark
stripes which are similar to a
tiger pattern. It also has
dorsal fins that are
distinctively close to its tail. These
sharks are often large in size and may
encounter humans because they often
visit shallow reefs, harbours and
canals.
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