We took an underwater photography trip to the Philippines in December 2016.
"Grouper" comes from the Portuguese "garoupa". Groupers have a stout body and a large mouth. They swallow prey rather than biting pieces off. Groupers eat fish, octopuses, and crustaceans.
longfin grouper, Epinephelus quoyanus
peacock grouper, Cephalopholis argus
Squirrelfish are ray-finned fish. Most of them are red.
three-spot squirrelfish, Sargocentron comutum
Parrotfish are found in relatively shallow tropical and subtropical oceans. Their teeth are a tightly-packed mosaic on the external surface of the jaw bones, forming a parrot-like beak with which they rasp algae from coral and other rocky substrates.
Indian parrotfish, Chlorurus captistratoides
A trumpetfish is a long-bodied fish with an upturned mouth. Trumpetfish often swim vertically while trying to blend in with vertical coral such as sea rods, sea pens, and pipe sponges.
trumpetfish, Autostomus chinensis
Lizardfish are bottom-dwelling marine and estuarine fish. They have slender, somewhat cylindrical bodies with heads that superficially resembled those of lizards. They prefer sandy environments.
redmarbled lizardfish, Synodus rubromamoratus
Bigeyes have unusually large eyes. They are nocturnal carnivores.
Bloch's bigeye, Priacanthus blochii
Snappers are active carnivores, feeding on crustaceans and other fish.
checkered snapper, Lutjanus decussatus
bigeye snapper, Lutjanus lutjanus
Shrimp gobies live in symbiotic relationships with certain alpheid shrimps. The shrimp excavates and maintains a burrow used by both animals while the goby, which has much better vision, acts as a lookout for predators. The shrimp maintains almost constant contact with the fish with an antenna.
magnificent shrimpgoby, Flabelligobius sp.
Ghost gobies are native to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean.
common ghostgoby, Pleurosicya mossambica
Pygmy gobies are short-lived gobies characgterized by their small size. They are also called dwarf gobies.
neon pygmygoby, Eviota pellucida
juvenile yellow-striped whiptail, Pentapodus aureofasciatus
Breams are narrow, deep-bodied fish.
bridled monocle bream, Scolopsis temporalis
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Last modified 27 February 2017