^ The Red Sea Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma desjardinii) is one gorgeous fish!
The Red Sea lies between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and is well known for its exotic and colorful reefs and sea life. I was lucky enough to spend a wonderful week on a live-aboard dive boat called the Sea Serpent Grand, diving and exploring this beautiful part of the world. We saw a couple pipefish species, including this Red Sea Pipefish (Corythoichthys sp):
The Red Sea is home to so many butterflyfish species! I got good shots of several, such as the Masked Butterflyfish (Chaetodon semilarvatus):
And the Exquisite Butterflyfish (Chaetodon austriacus):
Another cool fish was the Moses Sole (Pardachirus marmoratus), a flat bottom-dweller similar to a flounder. I got a close-up of his eyes:
This is the Picassofish (Rhinecanthus assasi), which looks like it came right out of a cartoon:
And this little guy, one of my favorites, the Longnose Hawkfish (Oxycirrhites typus). He is tiny and totally adorable. Just look at those eyes!
Another interesting species is the Slingjaw Wrasse (Epibulus insidiator). The mouth of this species can unfold so that the jaws swing forward into a long tube with strong suction to catch prey. I caught this terminal male adult just as he was closing the tube:
It is thought that this species changes from female to male as they age. The females are yellow, but have similar eye markings:
We saw so many other cool fish and critters, I wish I could highlight them all! See below for more of my favorites:
