Encyclopedia

Weedy Sea DragonPhyllopteryx Taeniolatus An unlikely little dragon drifting through the kelp, all rust-red, gold and flashes of violet. Its body is covered in tiny yellow speckles, while purple-blue bands gather around the neck and its long snout stretches forward with almost comical seriousness. Leafy fins sprout from its back and tail, making the whole fish look as though it has spent its entire life trying to become a piece of seaweed and never quite finished the job. Size: Up to around 45 cm Range: Southern Australia, from New South Wales around the southern coast to southwestern Western Australia and...

Juvenile Emperor AngelfishPomacanthus Imperator Before it grows into one of the reef’s great showstoppers, the Emperor Angelfish spends its youth looking like a tiny optical illusion. Deep blue-black curves around the body in tight white and electric-blue rings, with the pattern seeming to twist and fold as the fish moves. The result is wonderfully hypnotic, less like a miniature version of the adult and more like a completely different fish that happens to be keeping the same name. Size: Juveniles are typically under 8–12 cm; the species can grow to around 40 cm Range: Indo-Pacific; from the Red Sea and...

Miamira FlavicostataMiamira Flavicostata There is something wonderfully wrong-looking about this nudibranch. Purple folds and blazing orange markings swell into a series of soft peaks along its back, while a pale, polka-dotted body seems to spill out underneath. Its gills flare upward in a tangled red plume, and two tall feelers give it the appearance of some miniature creature from another planet. Curious, ornate, and entirely unconcerned with looking like anything else in the sea. Size: Up to around 85 mm Range: Indo-West Pacific; from the Red Sea and East Africa through the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, New Guinea and eastern Australia...

Gabriela's TambjaTambja Gabrielae Deep green and butter-yellow, Gabriela’s Tambja has a wonderfully excessive sense of color. Broad yellow patches drift across its back, bordered in gold, while three small crowns of feathery gills rise along its body. Even the rhinophores carry their own black-and-yellow markings, making this little nudibranch look as though it arrived at the reef with every detail already accounted for. Size: Up to around 45 mm Range: Western Pacific; recorded from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, with additional records across the region Habitat / Depth: Reef and rocky environments, typically found at depths of 9–35...

Undulating PhyllidiaPhyllidia Undula Black and white lines wind across its back in loose, unruly waves, wrapping around rows of raised golden tubercles like little beads stitched into the pattern. A warm yellow-orange mantle peeks through between the markings, with bright yellow rhinophores completing the look. It’s less spotted than its relatives and far more into drawing outside the lines. Size: Up to around 55 mm Range: Western Indian Ocean; from the Red Sea and East African coast to Réunion and Mauritius Habitat / Depth: Rocky reefs, sandy bottoms and reef slopes, recorded from shallow water to around 27 m Diet:...

Gold-Crowned Sea GoddessFelimare Acriba Deep cobalt blue meets fine golden lines on this spectacular sea slug, with black markings tucked between the pattern like tiny strokes of ink. A vivid yellow-orange fringe follows the mantle, while purple-blue rhinophores and warm amber gills add flashes of color at either end. The whole animal has an almost impossibly precise sense of order, as though every line has been carefully placed. Size: Up to 60 mm Range: Western tropical Atlantic; found throughout the Caribbean, including Florida, Mexico, Panama and the Antilles Habitat / Depth: Sandy bottoms with rocky and coral rubble, typically found...