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Atlantic Spadefish
Chaetodipterus faber
Also called White Angelfish, Threetailed Porgy, Ocean Cobbler or Moonfish
Weigh between 3-10 lbs but 20lbs has been recorded
Grow up to 36 inches long 
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Balloonfish (Spiny Pufferfish)
Diodon holocanthus
8-14 inches
Has enough poison to kill a human
Spikes are actually modified scales
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Barracuda (Great)
Sphyraena barracuda
The only genus in the family of Sphyraenidae
Their teeth are similar to paranhas
Can grow to over 6 feet in length
Many are carriers of ciguatera
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Bicolour Damselfish 
Stegastes partitus
4 inches
Feeds on plankton, unlike most members of it's genus
Form schools of up to twenty
Live near rocky reefs
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Black Grouper
Mycteroperca bonaci
Also known as the Black Rockfish or Marble Rockfish
Can weigh up to 55 lbs
Protogynous hermaphrodite, young are typically female and transform into males as they grow larger
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Blue Angelfish
Holacanthus bermudensis
Although it looks very similar to the Queen Angelfish, they are two separate species
Can grow up to 18 inches in length
Originally has blue vertical bars on its body, but as it ages the bars fade and the body colour becomes lighter and brown and green colouring appears 
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Blue Tang
Acanthurus coeruleus
5-15 inches in length
Also known as a blue doctor because of the scapels on either side of it's tail
Juveniles are yellow, then intermediately change to blue with a yellow tail, and terminally to a blue adult
They engage in cleaning behaviour as both cleaners and clients.
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Bluestriped Grunt
Haemulon sciurus
8-10 inches
Travels in schools
Grunts by grinding it's pharyngeal teeth, while it's swim bladder amplifies this sound 
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Brown Chromis
Chromis multilineata
14 inches
Also known as Pullers or Yellow Edge Chromis
Varies in colours: brown-grey, olive green, black tips with yellow, with or without white tail spot
Perform mating dance to attract partner 
Males turn darker and white spots appear during mating
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Butter Hamlet
Hypoplectrus unicolour
5 inches
Have both male and female sex organs as adults
They take turns during mating fertilizing each other


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Creole Wrasse
Clepticus parrae
Males grow up to 1 foot (females are smaller)
Change colours during lifespan, starting off purple, and ending with yellow spot near tail
They are hermaphrodites  when the dominant male dies, the largest female changes into a male

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Doctorfish (Tang)
Acanthurus chirurgus
Can grow up to 15 inches and weigh up to 11lbs
Gets it’s name from scalpels on either side of the tail
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Dusky Damselfish
Stegastes fuscus
4-6 inches
Brown-olive to grey coloured, darker coloured vertical stripes on the body
Fins are large and occasionally have a blue rim around edge of dorsal and anal fins (as pictured)
Extremely territorial of food source, which they guard
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Foureyed Butterflyfish
Chaetodon capistratus
Found as far north as Massachusetts 
Spot on the back fools other fish into thinking it's the eye, while the real eye is disguised by a strip running through it
They mate for life
Can swim upside-down
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French Angelfish (Adult)
Pomacanthus paru
41 inches 
Mate for life
Return to the same hiding place every night

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French Angelfish (Juvenile)Pomacanthus paru
Stripes fade over time
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French Grunt
Haemulon flavolineatum
6-7 inches
Travel in schools
Grunts by grinding it's pharyngeal teeth, while it's swim bladder amplifies this sound 
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Goldentail Moray Eel
Gymnothorax miliaris
Can grow up to 28 inches in length
Feed nocturnally on fish, octopus and crustaceans
They open their mo0uths to move water through their gills for respiration
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Harlequin Bass
Serranus tigrinus
Can grow up to 14 inches in length
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High Hat (Juvenile)
Pareques acuminatus
6-9 inches
Also known as Striped Drum
Known as "Intermediate Stage"


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High Hat (Adult)Pareques acuminatus
Stripes widen
"Hat" shrinks
Known as "Terminal Stage"
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Hog Fish
Lachnolaimus maximus
36 inches (up to 24lb)
Only true member of it's genus 
Sequential hermaphrodite - female first, matures into male
Males can be identified by dark band from snout to dorsal spine
One male will protect many females

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Honeycomb Cowfish
Acanthostracion polygonius
Can grow up to 20 inches
Body is covered with toxic mucus that can be released when stressed 
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Graysby Grouper
Mycteroperca rosacea
6-16 inches
Smaller species of grouper 
Only growing to a few pounds
Sometimes referred to as Leopard Grouper for it's spotted skin
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Lionfish
Pterois miles
14 inches
Invasive species in the Caribbean (but grouper are feeding on it)
Fin spines secrete venom that can kill humans
Coloured red to tan or grey and has dark stripes on it's body

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Midnight Parrotfish
Scarus coelestinus
3 feet
Largest of all parrotfish 
Spend 80% of life searching for food
No other species has as uniformly solid blue colouring
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Nassau Grouper
Epinephelus striatus
The most popular grouper for commercial fisheries in the Caribbean, although it is now endangered and at high risk for extinction
Can weigh up to 55lbs and reach over three feet in length
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Night Sergeant
Abudefduf Taurus
Between 5-8 inches in length
The largest of all Caribbean damselfish
They have the same bars as sergeant majors, but are brownish-green to blue in colour 
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Porkfish
Anisotremus virginicus
Can reach a length of 16 inches, but most are under 10 inches
Reported as a ciguatera toxin carrier 
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Redband Parrotfish 
Sparisoma aurofrenatum
Travel solo or in small groups
Sequential hermaphrodite (from male to female)
Male "Intermediate Stage"
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Redband Parrotfish 
Sparisoma aurofrenatum
Female "Terminal Stage"
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Reef Butterflyfish
Chaetodon sedentarius
Can grow up to 6 inches
Black bar on head running through the eye, and a broad vertical black bar before the tail
Prefers to feed on the eggs of sergeant majors 
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Scrawled Filefish
Aluterus scriptus
Large specimens can grow up to 43 inches in length
Juveniles have yellow bodies with black spots
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Sergeant Major
Abudefduf saxatillis
Also known as “Píntano”
Gets it’s name from the bold stripes on their sides, as they are reminiscent of insignia of a military sergeant major
During breeding, males will turn blue
They are territorially aggressive 
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Sharpnose Puffer
Canthigaster rostarna
4.5 inches
Coexist with other Sharpnose Puffers in complex social structure 
Behaviour changes during the day: dawn they spawn, daytime they forage and defend, at dusk they seek shelter, at night they sleep
Their flesh is filled with tetrodotoxin, a poison
They inflate themselves with water to appear larger to predators 
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Smooth Trunkfish
Rhinesomus triqueter
The only member of it’s genus
Can grow as large as 19 inches, but average around 8 inches
Juveniles have dark coloured bodies with large yellow spots, they then fade to become pale and slowly the honeycomb pattern appears
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Spanish Grunt
Haemulon macrostomum
10-15 inches in length
During they day they linger over reefs, and at night they head to open ocean to feed
Travel in schools
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Spanish Hogfish 
Bodianus rufus
11-16 inches
Juveniles are cleaner fish, adults prey on crustaceans and echinoderms 
Type of wrasse
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Spotted Drumfish
Equetus punctatus
Swims in repetative patterns at opening of small caves
Feeds at night 
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Spotted Goatfish
Pseudupeneus maculatus
Grows up to 5-8 inches
Use two barbels under their chin to sense food udner the sand
Capable of changing colour patterns in less than a minute
Change colour from red to white 
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Spotted Moray Eel
Gymnothorax mooring
23 inches (average) - (up to) 7 feet 
Solitary animal that lives in holes 
Bite can be dangerous to humans
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Snook (Common)
Centropomus undecimalis1.6 - 4.5 feet
One of the largest types of snook
During spawning pelvic and caudal fin turn yellow 
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Spotfin Butterflyfish
Chaetodon ocellatus
6-9 inches
Black bar through eye confuses predators
Black bar through eye disappears as it matures, and more bars appear 
Extremely territorial and will kill each other

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Stoplight Parrotfish 
Sparisoma viride
1-2 feet
In initial phase it could be male or female
In initial phase it can change colour of scales on underside from red to white
In terminal phase (pictured) it is male
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Tiger Grouper
Mycteroperca tigris
Can weigh up to 10lbs and reach 35 inches in length
Groupers draw in prey by sucking it into their mouths
Live in 5-20 feet of water
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Tomtate
Haemulon aurolineatum
5-8 inches in length
Specific to parts of Florida and The Bahamas 
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Trumpet Fish
Aulostomus maculatus
15-31 inches, but can grow up to 3 feet
Often swims vertically to blend into coral environment 
Spawning habits are unknown
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Yellowhead Wrasse
Halichoeres garnoti
Can grow up to 7.5 inches in length
Juveniles are yellow with a lateral bright blue stripe
The next phase they are female, with dark backs, blue shading and yellow undersides
As adults, they are male and the head and front part of the body are yellow, the back half is silvery cray with a vertical black bar and broad black stripes along the back
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Eleuthera, The Bahamas | Updated: June 2014
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