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Fun Facts About Florida Stone Crabs & Spiny Lobsters
Key West’s waters are teeming with fascinating marine life. While the coral reef off the coast of Key West is home to a beautiful array of tropical fish, there are other underwater creatures lurking about. This is where Florida’s stone crabs and spiny lobsters come into play. These crustaceans hide within coral caves or dock […]
Goliath Grouper
The adult fish is generally brownish yellow, gray, or olive with small dark spots on head, body, and fins to help blend in to their rocky coral and muddy inshore habitat (waters up to 150 ft). Three or four irregular faint vertical bars are present of the sides of individuals less than 3 feet in […]
Queen Conch
The Queen Conch produces a large spiral shell with “spines” on it. These spines are thought to be for protection, but to human touch they are dull and non-threathening. The conch’s shell has a wide lip that has a rich pink color. Inside the shell is where the head stays which has two pairs of […]
Fun Facts About Blue Tang Fish
The blue tang is typically found on reefs in high current areas so that they can feed on zooplankton. Blue tangs are easy to spot due to their bright coloration. They are typically a vibrant blue with a yellow tail. They have two black lines. One lines the fish form the eye, along the back, […]
The Burmese Python In Florida and The Everglades
The importation and keeping of Burmese Pythons in Florida has led to some rather serious problems. People who no longer wish to care for their pythons, or whose pythons have grown too large to be kept in their houses, have been known to release their pets into the wild rather than have them re-homed or […]
Guidelines for Catch & Release Fishing
Decide beforehand which fish are to be kept and immediately release all others. Fish with barbless hooks or crimp and remove the barb. There’s no significant difference or mortality between catching fish with barbed/barbless hooks. The advantages of barbless hooks are: reduces time needed to dehook the fish, and less physical damage to the fish […]
Fun Facts About Squirrel Fish In The Florida Keys
The squirrelfish can be found at depths to 590 feet but more typically found within 100 feet. They are nocturnal. At night, they swim over sandy bottoms and sea grass beds at night searching for prey. During the daylight hours, they hide in crevices and under ledges within coral reefs to avoid predators. Juveniles form […]
Angels of the Sea
First identified and named in 1758, approximately 86 species of marine angelfish live in shallow reefs around the world. Queen angelfish have distinct electric blue bodies with yellow fins and tail. The fish may even have orange or purple highlights. Queen angelfish acquired their names from their “crowns”– a round black/blue spot on the top […]
Beautiful, but Invasive
When you see a lionfish, the first things you’ll notice are their red/white zebra stripes, long pectoral fins, and their needle-like dorsal fins. The second thing you’ll notice if you get too close is that those needle-like dorsal fins are venomous! Fortunately, the venom released from their dorsal fins is purely defensive (they are not […]
Tiger of the Sea
Barracudas are perhaps one of the most feared marine creatures for those who don’t spend a lot of time in the water, but those who do, crave underwater encounters with these misunderstood creatures. Many divers might agree that their appearance could be frightening at first– with a set of fang-like teeth, it’s no wonder barracuda […]
