Coral Reef Fish: Fairy Basslet

Video Transcript

"The marine organism we're going to identify now is the Fairy Basslet. Fairy Basslets are also commonly known as Royal Grammas. It's a small fish about one and a half to two and a quarter inches long. They're a brightly colored fish, purple to violet on the front half of their body and bright yellow on their rear half. They are also distinguished from other grammas by a dark spot on the front of their dorsal fin. Fairy Basslets also have streaks that run from their mouth and across their eyes. These streaks can range in color from black to yellow. Fairy Basslets can be found on coral heads and under ledges and in caves. They often will be seen swimming upside down, on the ceilings of caves and the undersides of overhangs. They prefer areas with lots of nooks and crannies, into which they will dart if they feel threatened but if you remain motionless and quiet, they will re-emerge fairly quickly. They're commonly seen on coral heads and water as shallow as ten feet and as deep as two hundred feet. Fairy Basslets feed on ectoparasites off the bodies of other animals so they are common cleaner fish. They also feed on various types of zooplankton. They are abundant throughout the Bahamas, the Caribbean but less common around Florida and the Keys. That's the Fairy Basslet."