Rock Beauty: Holacanthus tricolor and a BlueStriped Grunt: Haemulidae sciurus The Rock Beauty Holacanthus tricolor lives in shallow water over coral and rocky reefs, somtimes offshore, in Bermuda; from Georgia to Brazil, including the West Indies; offshore reefs in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Like many other Angelfish, the Rock Beauty feeds upon sponges, tunicates, and algae. Angelfish is a name used for several different fishes, including the true angelfishes, Pomacanthidae and the butterfly fishes Chaetodontidae. Angelfishes differ from butterfly fishes in having a spine near the lower edge of the gill cover. These laterally compressed fishes are among the most beautiful of the tropical reef fishes. I photographed this image of a Rock Beauty and a Bluestriped Grunt under a brightly colored overhang in Cozumel.

Print Number - TF010
Limited Edition signed color photography for sale by Stephen Brunson

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BlueStriped Grunt Statistics:

The grunt H. sciurus has pale blue stripes, and is famous for its 'kissing'. 2 individual grunts will face each other and push with open mouths. It is found in the Atlantic Ocean, from Maine to Brazil, including Bermuda, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the West Indies, usually found in small groups over coral and rocky reefs and dropoffs. The bluestriped grunt feeds on crustaceans, bivalves, and occasionally on small fishes, and reaches sizes of up to 16 in. Their mating season appears to be from October - April, peaking in December and January.

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