Marine life  /  Marine mammals & birds
10 of 1316 species
Group

Marine mammals & birds

The animals that have to surface. Dolphins, a dugong, two eared seals, a penguin and a cormorant, recorded here because they are met in the water rather than because they are reliable.

Species
10
Depth
0–30 m
Rarity range
1 star of 5, found on most divesto 5 stars of 5, a handful of records
Night only
None
Can hurt a diver
None
Destinations
4

None of these is a sighting anyone can plan. The dolphins are usually passing; the dugong is a seagrass animal and is met by staying still at the edge of a bed rather than by swimming toward it.

The Galapagos endemics are the exception, and are the reason most people dive there. The sea lions and fur seals approach divers of their own accord, the penguin hunts through bait balls at speed, and the flightless cormorant swims down to feed on the bottom. Bulls hold territory and will make that clear; the rule is the same as everywhere, which is to let the animal decide the distance.

10 species

Photographed first, then commonest

10 written up, none photographed yet

Every one has a page. They are shown as a list rather than as pictures because nothing has been photographed or logged for them yet, and a species with nothing behind it should not sit in front of one that has.

Where they are recorded

How many of the 10 carry a record at each destination. A species usually carries several, so these do not add up to 10.

Galapagos Islands 5 Islas Revillagigedo 5 Red Sea 2 Cocos Island 1

The other groups

Anemonefish 11 Angelfish 25 Batfish 3 Blennies 26 Butterflyfish 35 Cardinalfish 13 Damselfish 32 Dottybacks 5 Dragonets 5 Eels & garden eels 18 Flatfish 8 Frogfish & anglers 26 Goatfish 8 Gobies & dartfish 29 Groupers & anthias 42 Hawkfish 5 Jacks & open-water fish 29 Jawfish 4 Lizardfish & flatheads 10 Morays 26 Morwongs & trumpeters 4 Parrotfish 16 Pufferfish & boxfish 23 Rabbitfish 5 Scorpionfish & lionfish 47 Seahorses & pipefish 53 Shrimpgobies 17 Snappers, breams & sweetlips 39 Squirrelfish & soldierfish 9 Surgeonfish & unicornfish 26 Triggerfish & filefish 25 Trumpetfish & cornetfish 4 Wrasses 56 Other fish 46 Sharks & rays 63 Turtles, sea snakes & crocodiles 11 Cephalopods 36 Nudibranchs & sea slugs 137 Sea snails & shells 26 Shrimps 38 Mantis shrimps 5 Crabs 45 Hermit crabs 10 Lobsters & squat lobsters 13 Isopods & parasitic crustaceans 5 Amphipods 2 Sea stars 18 Brittle stars & basket stars 7 Feather stars 2 Sea urchins 23 Sea cucumbers 12 Worms 11 Flatworms 3 Jellyfish & stinging drifters 10 Anemones & zoanthids 12 Corals & sponges 29 Sea squirts 4 Blackwater & plankton 52 Other invertebrates 2

All 1316 species in one index, with filters for destination, rarity and hazard.

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