News
SpeciesScientists Discover Mysterious New Fish in the Red Sea – and Have Never Seen It AgainOceanEye to eye with Britain's hidden sharks at SharkAdemy - OceanographicRiversIn October, biologists surveying a New York harbor for invasive fish pulled up a bright yellow one. It wasn't an invasive species at allOceanShedd Aquarium Sends Shark Eggs to Bolster Wild PopulationsSpeciesA rare fish has been found in Lake Ontario, North America, whose entire body is golden. It is a nati..OceanThe Great Sea Reef Is Fiji’s Wildest Dive, and a New Frontier for ConservationOceanEckerd College professor contributes to designating Biscayne Bay an Important Shark and Ray AreaSpeciesRio Verde Grande Survey Identifies Fifty-Three Fish Species Facing Flow ReductionsFisheriesAdams River Salmon Run in Thompson-NicolaIndiaHilsa production dropped 26% in five years, fisheries minister tells parliamentSpeciesScientists Discover Mysterious New Fish in the Red Sea – and Have Never Seen It AgainOceanEye to eye with Britain's hidden sharks at SharkAdemy - OceanographicRiversIn October, biologists surveying a New York harbor for invasive fish pulled up a bright yellow one. It wasn't an invasive species at allOceanShedd Aquarium Sends Shark Eggs to Bolster Wild PopulationsSpeciesA rare fish has been found in Lake Ontario, North America, whose entire body is golden. It is a nati..OceanThe Great Sea Reef Is Fiji’s Wildest Dive, and a New Frontier for ConservationOceanEckerd College professor contributes to designating Biscayne Bay an Important Shark and Ray AreaSpeciesRio Verde Grande Survey Identifies Fifty-Three Fish Species Facing Flow ReductionsFisheriesAdams River Salmon Run in Thompson-NicolaIndiaHilsa production dropped 26% in five years, fisheries minister tells parliament
EveryFish

Reef fish

Clownfish, wrasses, parrotfish, surgeonfish, angelfish and butterflyfish. 56 fish on EveryFish so far.

Reef fish is not a scientific group but a way of life: the many families of fish that live on and around coral reefs. Damselfish and clownfish, wrasses, parrotfish, surgeonfish, butterflyfish, angelfish, gobies, groupers and snappers make up most of them. Reefs cover far less than one per cent of the sea floor but hold roughly a quarter of all marine fish species, packed together in a small space.

Living together

Reef fish divide the reef finely. Parrotfish and surgeonfish graze algae and keep it from smothering corals. Butterflyfish pick at coral polyps. Cleaner wrasses run cleaning stations where bigger fish come to have parasites removed. Clownfish shelter among stinging anemones, and many reef fish change sex during their lives. Bright colours serve as signals, warnings and camouflage among the bright corals. Most reef fish lay eggs that drift as larvae for weeks before settling on a reef.

Trade and threats

Reef fish feed millions of people in coastal villages of the tropics. The aquarium trade takes many species from the wild, and the film Finding Nemo in 2003 raised demand for clownfish, though most clownfish sold are now bred in captivity. Groupers and humphead wrasse are taken for the live reef fish trade of East Asia. Bleaching from marine heatwaves, overfishing, blast and cyanide fishing, and pollution are the main threats.

Famous reef fish fish

Orange clownfishLives in anemones on Pacific reefsHumphead wrasseA giant reef fish, endangeredGreen humphead parrotfishThe largest parrotfishMoorish idolA striking fish of Indo-Pacific reefsMandarinfishThe mandarinfishBluestreak cleaner wrasseRuns cleaning stationsRegal blue tangThe blue tang

Still to be written: Ocellaris clownfish.

Further reading

WaterRivers and lakesEstuaries and mangrovesCoasts and shelvesCoral reefsOpen oceanDeep seaPolar and cold seasCaves and springsBetween sea and river
UseFood fishFarmedAquarium fishSport fishingCulture and faithVenomous or dangerousInvasiveScience and research
OrderBest knownA to ZOldest firstNewest firstBy size
🇺🇸 United StatesGaribaldi Bright orange damselfish and official marine state fish of California.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves · 1860 🇺🇸 United StatesReef triggerfish Hawaii’s official state fish with a pig-like snoutReef fish · Coral reefs WorldSquirrelfish Nocturnal reef fish of the subfamily Holocentrinae found in Atlantic and Indo-Pacific waters.Reef fish · Coasts and shelves

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: the fish of the day, new pages on EveryFish, and the conferences and anniversaries of the week ahead.