Lagoon ID

Explore the animals that live in the Lake Worth Lagoon!

Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus)

Defining Characteristics
Tarpon have a long, scoop-shaped mouth, can grow up to eight feet long, and weight more than 350 pounds!

Habitat
They can be found in the open ocean, as well as freshwater lakes and rivers. They are primarily found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate climates.

Diet
Adult tarpon are carnivorous, meaning they feed on other animals such as fish, shrimp, and crabs.

Behavior 
What's that sound? Tarpon swim to the surface to take large gulps of air... a way for them to get additional oxygen!

Fishy Feature
Tarpon are easily identified by their very shiny silver sides covered in large scales.

French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru)

Defining Characteristics
Young French angelfish have three vertical yellow stripes on their bodies. As young French angelfish mature into adults, they lose their stripes and turn gray with yellow scales.

Habitat
French angelfish live in temperate to tropical waters in the Atlantic Ocean and are commonly found on shallow reefs.

Diet
Adult French Angelfish feed primarily on sponges, algae, soft corals, and tunicates.

Behavior 
Juveniles tend cleaning stations where they remove parasites from many fish such as jacks, snappers, eels, grunts, and grasses.

Fishy Feature
The genus name, Pomacanthus, comes from the Greek word poma, meaning cover, and the word akantha, meaning horn. These fish have a covering over their gills with a thorn to protect them from predators.

Needlefish (Strongylura marina)

Defining Characteristics
These fish have a very long, slender body that ends in a needle shaped mouth, giving them their common name. They are usually a grey/blue color with shades of green.

Habitat
Needlefish are found in temperate and tropical waters. They are seen at the surface of the water and some species are even found in freshwater.

Diet
Needlefish feed on smaller fishes, cephalopods, crustaceans, and krill.

Behavior 
They can reach high speeds while at the water's surface and propel themselves out of the water.

Fishy Feature
Needlefish don't have an actual stomach. Instead, they have a specialized intestinal tract.

Crevalle Jack (Caranx hippos)

Defining Characteristics
Crevalle Jacks are usually green or gold in color. They typically have silver or yellow bellies and a black spot at the base of each pectoral fin.

Habitat
These fish are found in deeper waters offshore in the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico. They are also found in freshwater habitats.

Diet
All Crevalle Jacks are carnivorous. They are often seen chasing schools of baitfish in hopes of catching a meal.

Behavior 
Crevalle jacks are fine with being alone, but they also swim in groups as a form of teamwork while hunting.

Fishy Feature
These fish can produce a croaking noise by grinding their teeth while releasing gas from their air bladder.

Queen Angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris)

Defining Characteristics
Adult Queen Angelfish have a bright yellow color with regal blue streaks along their dorsal and anal fins.

Habitat
They are often found among coral reefs in the Caribbean and Western Atlantic.

Diet
Their favorite snacks include plankton, sponges, algae, and benthic invertebrates. Sometimes they will even eat parasites from larger fish.

Behavior 
These fish are foragers, meaning they often eat as they go about their business on a reef. Queen Angelfish will graze along reef habitat when they are hungry.

Fishy Feature
Queen Angelfish can be very shy. They are often found by themselves unless accompanied by a mate.

Stoplight Parrotfish (Scarus virude)

Defining Characteristics
Parrotfish get their name from their fused teeth shaped like a bird’s beak that helps scrap food from hard surfaces. They are usually a mix of blue, green, and yellow with shades of pink, purple, and many other colors.

Habitat
These fish live in shallow, tropical waters among coral reefs.

Diet
Parrotfish love to eat algae from corals, rocks, and even other animals.

Behavior 
Parrotfish are diurnal, meaning they have fun in the day and sleep at night by making a cocoon out of mucus.

Fishy Feature
Parrotfish are very important to coral reef health since they help to control the growth of excess algae on the surface of corals.

Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)

Defining Characteristics
Moon jellyfish have a clear bell, or body, with short tentacles that line the edges of the bell.

Habitat
Moon jellyfish can be found in temperate to tropical waters around the world.

Diet
These jellyfish feed primarily on zooplankton and small fish.

Behavior 
Moon jellyfish have a very efficient style of locomotion and use water currents to do most of their traveling.

Fishy Feature
A group of jellyfish is called a smack!

Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda)

Defining Characteristics
Great barracuda have a long, silver body with black spots on their lower sides. Their lower jaw protrudes past their upper jaw, and they have fang-like teeth.

Habitat
Great barracuda can be found in tropical to subtropical waters worldwide. They can live both inshore and offshore; however, young barracuda are often found inshore in seagrass beds.

Diet
Great barracuda are carnivorous, meaning they feed on other animals for nutrients.

Behavior 
Barracuda will attack schools with quick bursts of speed and are seen as ferocious predators.

Fishy Feature
Sometimes Barracuda will form schools to hunt more effectively by herding smaller fish into larger groups.

Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas)

Defining Characteristics
Bull sharks can grow up to 10 feet long. They have a thick a body with a gray back and white belly. They also have short, rounded snouts.

Habitat
Although bull sharks are often found in the open ocean, they are also able to survive in freshwater rivers and in brackish waters, which is a mix of salt water and fresh water.

Diet
Bull sharks are active predators that feed on a wide variety of fish and other sea animals.

Behavior 
These sharks are known to be unpredictable and can be very aggressive as solitary hunters.

Fishy Feature
These sharks have been seen as far inland as the Ohio river, because of their ability to tolerate salt and fresh water.

Sergeant Major (Abudefduf saxatilis)

Defining Characteristics
Sergeant majors have a silver body with yellow along their upper sides. They also have five vertical black bars along their sides. They get their name from these black bars, as they are thought to resemble the badge of the sergeant major military rank.

Habitat
This fish can be found in warm waters throughout the world, often near reefs.

Diet
They feed on algae, small fish, and small crustaceans such as shrimp and crabs.

Behavior 
These fish are colonial nesters, meaning they will often form large schools to find proper nesting sites.

Fishy Feature
Male sergeant majors will guard their eggs until they hatch and are known to be very protective.

Common Snook (Centropomus undecimalis)

Defining Characteristics
Snook have a large mouth with its lower jaw that sticks out, as well as a black horizontal line that runs along the side of their body.

Habitat
Snook cannot tolerate water temperatures below 60° F, so they live in tropical climates. They can survive in both fresh and salt water.

Diet
Snook eat a wide variety of sea creatures, such as smaller fishes, shrimps, crabs, and copepods.

Behavior 
These fish are very cold sensitive. They fall in danger if water temperature falls below 60°F because of their slowed metabolic rate.

Fishy Feature
All Snook are protandrous hermaphrodites, meaning they are born male. After a few years of age, some will develop into females.

Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)

Defining Characteristics
Nurse sharks grow up to nine feet long. Their body is brown to yellow-brown in color and they have a light-colored belly. They have small eyes and two barbels that hang from their snout.

Habitat
Nurse sharks are a benthic species of shark, meaning they live on the ocean floor.

Diet
They feed primarily on fishes and animals that live on the sea floor, such as lobsters and crabs.

Behavior 
Nurse sharks are calmer than most sharks and will often save as much energy as possible.

Fishy Feature
These sharks often form social groups with other nurse sharks while they rest.

Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus)

Defining Characteristics
They have two black bars on their head: one that runs through their eye and another by their gills.

Habitat
Porkfish can be found in the western Atlantic Ocean and prefer tropical and subtropical waters.

Diet
Young porkfish feed on parasites that they pick off the skin of other fish species. Adults feed on a variety of bottom-dwelling crustaceans, such as crabs and shrimp.

Behavior 
Adult Porkfish are nocturnal because of their choice of prey, but juveniles will eat parasites from the skin of larger fish.

Fishy Feature
This fish gets its name from the grunting noise it makes when it grinds its teeth together, like the noise of a pig!

Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus)

Defining Characteristics
Sheepshead have human-like teeth, including molars, incisors and rounded grinders. Adult sheepshead have vertical black bars on their sides.

Habitat
Sheepshead are found in warm waters in the western Atlantic Ocean. They can be found near structures such as seawalls and oyster bars.

Diet
Sheepshead feed primarily on small fish and crustaceans, such as crabs and shrimp.

Behavior 
These fish commonly form aggregations for spawning or for a food source, including feeding on barnacles from the backs of manatees.

Fishy Feature
Sheepshead use their square teeth to clip barnacles and shellfish from different surfaces.

Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus)

Gray Angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus)

Defining Characteristics
The gray angelfish is the largest species of angelfish. Their flat disc-shaped body can reach up to two feet in diameter.

Habitat
The gray angelfish can be found among coral reefs all over the western Atlantic Ocean. They are often seen in pairs.

Diet
Like other angelfish, the gray angelfish feeds primarily on sponges and algae.

Behavior 
These fish, like many other species of angelfish, form strong mate relationships and are defensive of their partners.

Fishy Feature
The gray angelfish has comb-like teeth that help them feed on small organisms.

Bermuda chub (Kyphosus sectatrix)

Defining Characteristics
Bermuda chub are blue-gray in color with yellow stripes along their body. As adults, they can be one to two feet in length.

Habitat
Bermuda chub are a shallow water species that typically prefer to be around coral reefs or seagrass beds. They can be found throughout Florida and the Caribbean.

Diet
The Bermuda chub feeds on algae on the sea floor, as well as crabs and mollusks.

Behavior 
These fish are mostly solitary until it comes time to spawn in late fall. They will form schools that contain thousands of members.

Fishy Feature
These fish can change color or produce loud "booming" noises as defense mechanisms to ward off larger predators.

French Grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum)

Defining Characteristics
French grunts can grow up to 12 inches long and they have bright yellow and blue stripes along their bodies.

Habitat
The French grunt is found in the western Atlantic Ocean. Young French grunts are found in large numbers in shallow, protected areas such as seagrass beds and mangroves.

Diet
This grunt is a carnivore, meaning it feeds on other animals for nutrients.

Behavior 
Schools of juvenile French Grunts will actively attack or annoy predators to defend themselves, which is a form of mobbing behavior.

Fishy Feature
Grunts get their name from the grunting noise they make as they rub their teeth together.

Atlantic Spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber)

Defining Characteristics
Young Atlantic spadefish are dark brown or black in color. When they mature into adults, they develop four to six black, vertical bars along their silver body.

Habitat
Atlantic spadefish live in shallow waters and tend to school around coral reefs or structures such as sunken ships.

Diet
Atlantic spadefish feed on algae and animals that live on the sea floor, such as crabs and shrimp.

Behavior 
Spadefish can be solitary but are most often seen in large schools of up to 500 individuals.

Fishy Feature
Dark-colored juveniles will often camouflage themselves as leaves and other plant matter by swimming at an angle in the water.

Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)

Defining Characteristics
The green sea turtle gets its name not from the color of its shell, which is usually olive to black, but from its fat that is greenish due to its diet. These turtles have very short snout and a beak that is unhooked.

Habitat
Green sea turtles are found throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world.

Diet
As juveniles, they eat mollusks, worms, sponges, and crustaceans. As adults, they mostly eat seagrasses and algae.

Behavior 
These sea turtles are solitary but will migrate in large groups over hundreds of miles to nest and lay eggs on coastal beaches.

Turtle Tidbit
The incubation temperature of sea turtle nests determines the sex of hatchlings – hot chicks and cool dudes.

Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinari)

Defining Characteristics
They get their name from the distinct spots on the body, wings (or fins) that flap like an eagle, a long tail and a snout that resembles a duck’s beak. They can have a wingspan up to 10 feet wide!

Habitat
Spotted eagle rays can be found worldwide in temperate and tropical waters.

Diet
Spotted eagle rays feed primarily on bivalves, such as clams, oysters and mussels, as well as shrimps, crabs and small fishes.

Behavior 
Eagle rays find their food at the bottom of bodies of water but will often swim throughout the water column. They are known to form groups, called shoals, while they migrate from place to place.

Fishy Feature
Though it is not clear why, these rays will accelerate out of the water and leap into the air. It is possible this could be a way to clean parasites from their skin.

Mangrove Snapper (Lutjanus griseus)

Defining Characteristics
Mangrove snapper, also known as gray snapper, are usually gray in color. They have red and orange spots along their sides.

Habitat
They are native to the western Atlantic Ocean.

Diet
Mangrove snapper feed on small fishes and crustaceans, such as crabs and shrimps.

Behavior 
Mangrove snapper are found in shallow waters, generally around structures such as mangroves, docks and reefs.

Fishy Feature
These fish tend to breed during a full moon.