Socorro fish

Reef fish

Reef fish

18 species · grouped as on REEF survey sheets

At least 366 fish species are recorded in the Revillagigedo Islands, 26 of them found nowhere else (Pew 2018), and UNESCO counts at least ten reef fish that are endemic or nearly so, among them the Clarion angelfish (UNESCO). Most dives are along volcanic walls and pinnacles rather than coral reef, so the fish life is about schools, cleaning stations and the endemics that live on the rock.

The table lists the reef fish named in dive reports from the islands, grouped as on REEF fish survey sheets, then sorted by common name. Each row says where it has been reported, with the source. Fish tagged “Near-endemic” live only, or almost only, around these islands.

Table 1 — Reef fish reported in the Revillagigedo Islands, grouped as on the REEF Tropical Eastern Pacific survey sheets (Other last), then sorted by common name. Each fish’s family is shown under its scientific name. The photo credits say where each photo was taken; fish marked “No photo yet” link to photos on Wikimedia Commons.

Photo	Common name	Species	At Socorro	Profile
Butterflyfish Chaetodontidae · 1 species
	Barberfish	Johnrandallia nigrirostrisChaetodontidae	Runs cleaning stations for sharks at the Canyon and Cabo Pearce, with the largest groups at about 27 m (DAN); shares the Canyon cleaning station with Clarion angelfish (Bluewater 2024).	FishBase · Smithsonian
Damselfish and chromis Pomacentridae · 1 species
No photo yet	Clarion damselfish Near-endemic	Stegastes redemptusPomacentridae	About 95 percent of the population lives around the Revillagigedo Islands, on rocky reefs at 1–15 m (Wikipedia).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Eel Muraenidae · 2 species
	Panamic green moray	Gymnothorax castaneusMuraenidae	Described as abundant everywhere, Roca Partida included, on a December trip (trip report 2001).	FishBase · Smithsonian
	Zebra moray	Gymnomuraena zebraMuraenidae	Seen at Cabo Pearce (trip report 2001).	FishBase · Smithsonian
Jack Carangidae · 4 species
	Bigeye trevally	Caranx sexfasciatusCarangidae	Scores swam alongside the boat at San Benedicto in February 2024 (Bluewater 2024).	FishBase · Smithsonian
	Black jack	Caranx lugubrisCarangidae	A “squadron” of very large ones joined divers on a safety stop at the Canyon (Bluewater 2024); also seen at the Boiler (trip report 2001).	FishBase
No photo yet	Cottonmouth jack	Uraspis secundaCarangidae	Massive schools at Roca Partida in March 2020 (Bluewater 2020).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
	Rainbow runner	Elagatis bipinnulataCarangidae	At Punta Tosca on Socorro (Bluewater 2024) and in open water off the Boiler (trip report 2001).	FishBase · Smithsonian
Puffer Tetraodontidae · 1 species
	Guineafowl puffer	Arothron meleagrisTetraodontidae	Shares the rock face with Clarion angelfish at the Boiler (DAN); both colour phases seen at Punta Tosca (Bluewater 2024).	FishBase · Smithsonian
Seabass Serranidae · 2 species
	Leather bass	Dermatolepis dermatolepisSerranidae	Comes close to divers at the Canyon (trip report 2001; Bluewater 2024), and hides among sea-urchin spines (DAN).	FishBase · Smithsonian
	Pacific creolefish	Cephalopholis colonusSerranidae	Big schools at moderate depths on the seaward side of Roca Partida (DAN); tightly packed schools at El Cañón (Bluewater 2024).	FishBase · Smithsonian
Triggerfish Balistidae · 1 species
No photo yet	Redtail triggerfish	Xanthichthys mentoBalistidae	Schools at El Cañón and the Canyon (Bluewater 2024).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Wrasse Labridae · 2 species
No photo yet	Emerald wrasse Near-endemic	Thalassoma virensLabridae	Lives only on the reefs of the Revillagigedo Islands and Clipperton, straying to Baja California in El Niño years; grows to about 30 cm (Wikipedia).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
	Mexican hogfish	Bodianus diplotaeniaLabridae	Seen at El Cañón (Bluewater 2024).	FishBase · Smithsonian
Other Aulostomidae, Fistulariidae, Haemulidae, Pomacanthidae · 4 species
No photo yet	Burrito grunt	Haemulon sexfasciatumHaemulidae	Schools at El Cañón (Bluewater 2024).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Chinese trumpetfish	Aulostomus chinensisAulostomidae	Large ones on the rock face of the Boiler (DAN).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Clarion angelfish Near-endemic	Holacanthus clarionensisPomacanthidae	Almost entirely restricted to the Revillagigedo Islands; Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (Wikipedia). Cleans the giant mantas at the Boiler and on the ridge top at Cabo Pearce, about 8 m (DAN), and runs the cleaning station at El Cañón with barberfish (Bluewater 2024).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
	Reef cornetfish	Fistularia commersoniiFistulariidae	At El Cañón (Bluewater 2024) and Cabo Pearce (trip report 2001).	FishBase · Smithsonian

Pelagics

Open water

Seen in the blue, not on the reef

Credits

Fish photo credits

Photos and their sources

Photos credited to Megan Applegate are her own and are © Megan Applegate, all rights reserved. They were taken at Socorro in December 2023 or, where marked, at Cocos Island or Malpelo.

Other photos are credited in the table, with a link to the page each came from.