Ask a diver to name a fish that personifies the Red Sea, and there's a good chance that the choice would be those ubiquitous little golden ones that hover in force around wrecks and reefs. But what exactly are they?
Of the very many different species of anthias and basslets, the lyre-tail anthias are probably the ones you notice most. Feeding mainly on plankton, Pseudanthias squamipinnis hover in groups from about 2m to 20m deep, hoping to be mistaken for larger fish.
You will see mainly orange-coloured females, as the purple males tend to be territorial and haremic. But anthiases are not unique to the Red Sea. They can be seen all the way south to New South Wales and east to the waters of Japan.
Why do we notice them more in the Red Sea? That's because in the north, and in the Gulf of Aqaba especially, there are fewer predators to curtail the anthias' lives prematurely, so they can flourish in both number and size.
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