The fish near our home in the Atlantic Ocean tend to be gray and white. Down
here in South Caicos the fish are brightly colored for several reasons. There are
many more varieties of fish in the ecosystem down here than where you live,
and they may need to be different colors so that they can tell each other apart.
It’s kind of like the way members of a sports team wear the same uniforms.
Another reason for the many colors of fish is signaling. Bright colors can send
messages to other fish. A fish that is trying to avoid predation (being eaten) may
be brightly colored in an attempt to scare off the fish. Color patterns on a fish
also may warn other fish that it is a predator and is dangerous. A final reason
for fish to be colored is to camouflage (blend in) with all the brightly colored
corals and sea plants. Fish are not colored like this in the waters around
Newport is because the water is hard to see through. Since visibility is low,
there is no need for identifying colors or markings.
How many different species of fish live on South Caicos coral
reefs? ...Ben H., Miami, Florida, USA
by Joe Chojnacki, 3/7/97, South Caicos Island
There are about 400 to 500 species of fish in the waters around the Turks and
Caicos Islands. I suspect that we will see less than 200 species while we are
here. In our directed research, we are monitoring the populations of fish that
are likely to be targeted by the local commercial fishermen in the future. It
seems that only seventeen species are relevant to this research.
We are counting different species of parrotfish (fish that eat algae and coral),
snapper (invertebrate and fish feeders), grouper (fish feeders), and butterfly fish
(invertebrate feeders). We usually see a lot of parrotfish around a reef. They
are green fish that forage on the surface of the reef. Parrotfish range in size from
one to three feet long. Snapper are usually thinner, the same size as parrotfish,
and colored white. Groupers are the fat, impressive fish that tend to just hang
around the reef waiting for their next meal. Finally, the typical pretty fish you
see around a reef are the angelfish and butterfly fish. They’re small, rounded,
and distinctly colored, and they tend to swim within a small, defined territory.
