Tobago fish

Reef fish

Reef fish

49 species · grouped by family

A study of Tobago’s reefs between November 2011 and May 2013 counted 15,576 fish of 96 species in 23 families. Bicolor damselfish, brown chromis and creole wrasse made up about 45% of them, and parrotfish 15.4%. The north-east, around Speyside and Charlotteville, had the most species and the highest fish biomass; large predators were scarce everywhere (Alemu 2014). The Buccoo Reef wetland site in the south-west lists at least 119 fish species (Ramsar).

The table lists common reef fish of the Caribbean that divers meet at Tobago, grouped by family in the style of REEF fish survey sheets, then sorted by common name. The “Look for” notes come from each fish’s FishBase or Wikipedia page, with Tobago notes where a source gives them.

Table 1 — Common reef fish at Tobago, grouped by family in the style of REEF survey sheets (Other last), then sorted by common name. Each fish’s family is shown under its scientific name. Fish marked “No photo yet” link to photos on Wikimedia Commons.

Photo	Common name	Species	Look for	Profile
Angelfish Pomacanthidae · 4 species
	Flameback angelfish	Centropyge aurantonotusPomacanthidae	Tiny, up to 7.5 cm: a mainly blue body with a bright golden-yellow head and back, a blue ring round the eye, and dark blue tail and anal fins with black spots; found at 15–300 m (Wikipedia). Called rare by a diver at Tobago (Scuba Diving); photographed at Tobago in November 2024 (photo on this page).	FishBase
	French angelfish	Pomacanthus paruPomacanthidae	Black, with most scales rimmed golden yellow, a yellow ring round the eye, a whitish chin and a yellow filament on the dorsal fin. Recorded in reef-fish surveys around Tobago in 2011–2013 (Alemu 2014). Photographed at Tobago in November 2024 (photo on this page).	FishBase
	Queen angelfish	Holacanthus ciliarisPomacanthidae	Tail and pectoral fins all yellow, and a black spot ringed in electric blue on the forehead, the “crown”. Recorded in reef-fish surveys around Tobago in 2011–2013 (Alemu 2014). Photographed at Tobago in November 2024 (photo on this page).	FishBase
No photo yet	Rock beauty	Holacanthus tricolorPomacanthidae	Yellow front and yellow tail, the rest black. Juveniles are yellow with a blue-ringed black spot. Recorded in reef-fish surveys around Tobago in 2011–2013 (Alemu 2014).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Butterflyfish Chaetodontidae · 3 species
No photo yet	Banded butterflyfish	Chaetodon striatusChaetodontidae	Two broad black bars on the side, a third from the soft dorsal fin onto the tail base, and black bands near the fin edges.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Foureye butterflyfish	Chaetodon capistratusChaetodontidae	A large white-ringed black eyespot near the tail, dark diagonal lines forming forward-pointing chevrons, and a black bar through the eye.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
	Spotfin butterflyfish	Chaetodon ocellatusChaetodontidae	A black bar through the eye and a dark spot on the dorsal fin that give the species its name; adults reach about 15–20 cm (Wikipedia). Photographed at Tobago in November 2024 (photo on this page).	FishBase
Damselfish Pomacentridae · 4 species
No photo yet	Bicolor damselfish	Stegastes partitusPomacentridae	Head and front half of the body dark grey or black, the rear half pale, usually with some yellow; up to about 10 cm (Wikipedia). With the brown chromis and the creole wrasse, one of the three most numerous fish in Tobago reef surveys in 2011–2013 (Alemu 2014).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Brown chromis	Chromis multilineataPomacentridae	Greyish brown above, silvery grey on the sides, a black spot at the pectoral-fin base, a white spot just behind the dorsal fin, and yellow edges on the dorsal fin and tail lobes; up to 20 cm (FishBase). One of the three most numerous fish in Tobago reef surveys (Alemu 2014).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Sergeant major	Abudefduf saxatilisPomacentridae	Greenish-yellow above, white below, with five black bars; nesting males turn dark blue.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Yellowtail damselfish	Microspathodon chrysurusPomacentridae	Adults dark brown with a bright yellow tail. Juveniles dark blue with electric-blue spots and a clear tail.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Eels Muraenidae · 2 species
	Green moray	Gymnothorax funebrisMuraenidae	Very large, up to 2.5 m, and uniformly dark green to brown. Photographed at Tobago in November 2024 (photo on this page).	FishBase
	Spotted moray	Gymnothorax moringaMuraenidae	Pale white or yellowish, covered in small, overlapping brownish to purplish-black spots. Photographed at Tobago in November 2024 (photo on this page).	FishBase
Groupers, seabasses and hamlets Epinephelidae, Serranidae · 6 species
No photo yet	Barred hamlet	Hypoplectrus puellaSerranidae	Cream to pale yellow with six brown bars, the first through the eye, and blue lines on the head.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Coney	Cephalopholis fulvaEpinephelidae	Red, brown or yellow phases, all with many small black-edged blue spots and two black spots on top of the tail base. Recorded in reef-fish surveys around Tobago in 2011–2013 (Alemu 2014).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
	Golden hamlet	Hypoplectrus gummiguttaSerranidae	Head, body and fins golden-yellow; the head may carry dark spots edged in iridescent blue; up to 13 cm (Wikipedia). Photographed at Tobago in November 2024 (photo on this page).	FishBase
No photo yet	Graysby	Cephalopholis cruentataEpinephelidae	Pale with reddish spots and four white or black spots along the base of the dorsal fin. Recorded in reef-fish surveys around Tobago in 2011–2013 (Alemu 2014).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Nassau grouper	Epinephelus striatusEpinephelidae	The third and fourth dark bars join above the lateral line in a “W”, with a forked dark stripe on top of the head. Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Tiger grouper	Mycteroperca tigrisEpinephelidae	About eleven narrow pale lines slanting down and forward across the back, unique among Caribbean groupers. Recorded in reef-fish surveys around Tobago in 2011–2013 (Alemu 2014).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Grunts Haemulidae · 2 species
No photo yet	French grunt	Haemulon flavolineatumHaemulidae	Yellow, with enlarged scales in slanting rows below the lateral line, which no other grunt has.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Smallmouth grunt	Haemulon chrysargyreumHaemulidae	Six straight, evenly spaced bronze-yellow stripes and mostly yellow fins.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Jacks Carangidae · 4 species
No photo yet	Bar jack	Caranx ruberCarangidae	Silver, with a dark stripe along the back that turns down across the tail base onto the lower tail lobe.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
	Bigeye scad	Selar crumenophthalmusCarangidae	Slim, metallic blue-green above and white below, with a very large eye, a deeply forked tail and a black spot on the gill cover (Naturalis Caribbean Diving). Travels in compact schools of thousands (Naturalis Caribbean Diving); photographed in a huge school on Bonaire (photo on this page).	FishBase
	Blue runner	Caranx crysosCarangidae	Bluish green to olive green above, silvery grey to brassy below, with a dusky spot on the gill cover; most are under 35 cm. Moves in small schools or alone (Wikipedia). Photographed schooling at Tobago in November 2024 (photo on this page).	FishBase
	Horse-eye jack	Caranx latusCarangidae	Dusky to blackish scutes near the tail, a yellow tail, and little or no spot on the gill cover. Photographed on Bonaire (photo on this page).	FishBase
Parrotfish Labridae (Scarinae) · 3 species
No photo yet	Queen parrotfish	Scarus vetulaLabridae (Scarinae)	Initial phase dark grey with a broad white stripe below mid-side; terminal phase has a brownish-orange band near the tail edge.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Rainbow parrotfish	Scarus guacamaiaLabridae (Scarinae)	Dull orange fins with green, blue fin margins and blue-green tooth plates. Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Stoplight parrotfish	Sparisoma virideLabridae (Scarinae)	Terminal males green with three orange bands on the head and a yellow spot at the top of the gill cover; initial phase brown above with a bright red lower third. Named in a 2014 Tobago trip report (Undercurrent 2014).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Puffers, porcupinefish and boxfish Diodontidae, Ostraciidae · 3 species
	Balloonfish	Diodon holocanthusDiodontidae	Dark blotches on the back with spots between them, unspotted fins, and brown bars above and below the eye.	FishBase
	Honeycomb cowfish	Acanthostracion polygoniusOstraciidae	A boxfish covered in a bold pattern of hexagons outlined by narrow dark lines, with two spines above the eyes (Wikipedia); it can change colour (Wikipedia).	FishBase
	Porcupinefish	Diodon hystrixDiodontidae	Tan to light brown with many small dark spots and no large blotches; white belly.	FishBase
Snappers Lutjanidae · 2 species
No photo yet	Schoolmaster	Lutjanus apodusLutjanidae	Olive-grey with about eight narrow pale bars and a blue line under the eye.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Yellowtail snapper	Ocyurus chrysurusLutjanidae	A bright yellow stripe from snout to tail, a blue-violet back with yellow spots, and a yellow tail.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Surgeonfish Acanthuridae · 1 species
No photo yet	Blue tang	Acanthurus coeruleusAcanthuridae	Adults bluish-grey with faint wavy lines and a yellowish tail spine; juveniles bright yellow.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Triggerfish and filefish Balistidae, Monacanthidae · 4 species
	Black durgon	Melichthys nigerBalistidae	Dark brown to black, with a thin white line along the bases of the dorsal and anal fins. Named by divers at Tobago (Scuba Diving).	FishBase
No photo yet	Queen triggerfish	Balistes vetulaBalistidae	Two curved bright-blue bands from the snout to the pectoral fin and a blue bar across the tail base. Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
	Scrawled filefish	Aluterus scriptusMonacanthidae	Long and flat, olive-brown to grey with small black spots and blue lines and spots.	FishBase
No photo yet	Whitespotted filefish	Cantherhines macrocerusMonacanthidae	Brown, with or without many white spots; males have an orange patch of bristles in front of the tail-base spines.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Wrasse and hogfish Labridae · 4 species
No photo yet	Bluehead wrasse	Thalassoma bifasciatumLabridae	Terminal males with a blue head, green body and two black bars around a light-blue band; initial phase yellow above a black mid-side stripe.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Creole wrasse	Clepticus parraeLabridae	Juveniles almost all violet-purple; adults develop a yellow patch on the rear of the body; males reach about 30 cm. Feeds on plankton in groups along reef slopes (Wikipedia). One of the three most numerous fish in Tobago reef surveys (Alemu 2014); schools at Japanese Gardens (Undercurrent 2014).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Hogfish	Lachnolaimus maximusLabridae	The first three dorsal spines long and filament-like, an arched profile, and a black spot at the rear base of the dorsal fin. Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
No photo yet	Spanish hogfish	Bodianus rufusLabridae	Head and upper front of the body blue (red in deep water); the rest of the body and the tail yellow.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
Other Aulostomidae, Bothidae, Ephippidae, Mullidae, Priacanthidae, Sciaenidae, Scorpaenidae · 7 species
No photo yet	Atlantic spadefish	Chaetodipterus faberEphippidae	A very deep, flat silver body with four to six black bars that fade with age, and long trailing lobes on the dorsal and anal fins (Wikipedia). Named by divers at Tobago (Scuba Diving).	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
	Glasseye	Heteropriacanthus cruentatusPriacanthidae	Large eyes; silvery-pink, mottled or solid red, with faint dark dots on the fins.	FishBase
No photo yet	Peacock flounder	Bothus lunatusBothidae	A flatfish, grey-brown with many light-blue rings and dots and two or three diffuse black spots along the lateral line.	FishBase · Photos (Commons)
	Spotted drum	Equetus punctatusSciaenidae	White with dark bars and a very tall first dorsal fin; the second dorsal fin and tail are dark with white spots. Named in a 2014 Tobago trip report (Undercurrent 2014), and photographed at Tobago in November 2024 (photo on this page).	FishBase
	Spotted scorpionfish	Scorpaena plumieriScorpaenidae	Reddish brown with many brown and black spots, especially on the fins; up to 43–47 cm. It lives on the bottom and has venom in its spines (Wikipedia). Photographed at Tobago in November 2024 (photo on this page).	FishBase
	Trumpetfish	Aulostomus maculatusAulostomidae	Very long and thin, with a chin barbel and a row of separate spines in front of the dorsal fin. Seen at Kariwak Reef (DeeperBlue).	FishBase
	Yellow goatfish	Mulloidichthys martinicusMullidae	Pale tan with a single yellow stripe from the eye to the yellow tail, the only Caribbean goatfish with one yellow stripe. Photographed schooling on Bonaire (photo on this page).	FishBase

Invasive

Lionfish

An Indo-Pacific fish that should not be here

Lionfish reached Trinidad and Tobago in 2012, the last Caribbean island they invaded, and surveys in 2013–15 counted 326 lionfish per hectare in north-east Tobago against 10.5 per hectare in the south-west (FAO AGRIS). In February 2012 a diver reported one at Flying Reef, off the south-west tip, to the Institute of Marine Affairs (Reef Relief 2012).

Credits

Fish photo credits

Photos and where they were taken

Photos credited to Megan Applegate are © Megan Applegate, all rights reserved. Those marked Tobago were taken there in November 2024; the others show the same species elsewhere (Bonaire in December 2024, or Palau) and are labelled with the place. The rest are reference photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited below.