About 1,350 species of fish have been recorded from the Red Sea, The fish range in size from the huge Whale Shark that grows to 18 meters long to tiny gobies, of only a few centimeters long.

The most known fish are the Sharks of which several species are found in the Red Sea. Among these, the Gray Reef Shark, is easily identified by the thin white edging on the rear edge of the dorsat fin.

The Tiger Shark, which grows to 6 meters in length and weighs nearly one tonne, is well known in tropical seas, The young have tiger-like markings that fade age, the adults are often without markings, The Tiger Sharks is known for its ferocious and aggressive behavior and will attack and eat virtually anything.

Shark in Elphinstone Reef

The Hammerhead Shark, is easily recognized because of its remarkable head. The head is flattened in front and expanded to the sides, like a hammer or mallet, with an aye on each extremity. They grow to more than 6 meters, and are extremely dangerous, they have been described as " ferocious, fearless and voracious".
The Whale Shark, is huge up to 18m. with white spotted coloration. It is harmless and feed on plankton, although it occasionally takes fish.

Another large fish is the Manta Ray, which grows to 5m across the disc, its fearsome appearance is deceptive as it lives on plankton and is harmless.
More dangerous. Although sluggish and timid, the Marable Electric Ray, whish burry itself in sand or mud in shallow water and can deliver a first powerful electric shock of up to 100 volts to the unwary.
The Gray Moray, grows about 65cm and its generally yellowish color with numerous light-brown spots.

The Garden Eel., is the most common conger Eel in shallow waters. It gets its name from its habit of burying its tail in the sandy bottom, remaining more or less upright and waving in the current so that it looks like sea grass.
Several conger Eels look like sea Snakes, However, there are no snakes in the Red Sea.

The Cornefish, can grow to 1,5m including the long thin tail and long snout. It is greenish above, with two rows of blue spots or two blue stripes, the underside is murdjan, it is a brilliantly colored fish, it is one of a group of variably red, spiny fish that inhabit these waters. Its dorsal fin is extremely spiny and it grow to about 23cm.
A fish which the divers should be very wary is the Stonefish. This rather warty, drably colored, 30cm fish is a master of disguise and burry itself on the sea bottom with only eyes showing. If stepped on it raises its spines, which are equipped with venmon glands, it can deliver a sting so painful that susceptible people have been known to die of severe shock, An antivenin has been developed for it but it is vital to get the victim to appropriate medical care as soon as possible .
First aid consists of immersing the limb in hot water but care must be taken not to scald the victim.

Another highly venomous fish is the Lionfish, which is armed with needle-sharp spines on the back, its flanks and on the underside, This distinctively colored, black and whitish striped fish can direct the dosal spines forwards to strike at an enemy and deliver an agonizing sting.
Groupers are pized food fishes f the Red Sea. The Greasy Grouper, is called in Arabic, Hamour, and the Roving Groupers is known as Najil.
The Hamour is greenish-gray above and whitish below, it is covered with dark skin spots and can grow to 70cm . The Najil can grow to 90cm., and is orange-red with widely spaces dark-edged blue spots.
The Scalefin Anthias, has the male fuchsia in color with a violet-edged orange stripe running partway along the side from the edge. The female is orange-yellow with the same, but paler stripe from the eye. The tail fin in both sexed is deeply indentect, large males van grow to 15cm.

The Jacks, are carnivorous, open water fishes, some of which are valued as food. The Orange Spotted Jack, can grow to over 50cm. It is pale yellow-orange. It has a distinctive deeply notched dorsal fin.
The snappers are also commercially important. The Twinspot Snappers prefers deep exposed reefs. Its grows to 100cm and its reddish-brown above and paler reddish-tan on the sides, the dorsal fin is spiny.
The Spangled Emperor is one of a group of fishes that is related to the snappers. This species is a mutes in color, being yellowish-gray with an iridescent pale blue spot on each scale and sometimes two or three pale blue streaks running from the eye to the mouth. It can grow o 80cm.
Several species of barracudas are

ound in the Red Sea, of which largest famous is the Great Barracuda , which can grow to two meters. This long, slim fish is dark greenish above and silvery on the sides with faint oblique barring, There are two widely spaced dorsal fins, the one at the rear is blackish as the tail fin.
The damselfishes are rather small fished, the young are often brightly colored, while the adults are more subdued. The Twobar Anemone fish , retains its striking colors throughout its life, it is orange-yellow shading to brown on the back, there are two vertical dark-edged white bars on the body, one behind the head and the other behind the lateral fin, it can grow to about 12cm.
The wrasses are a diverse group. They exhibit a variety of forms and vary in size from the tiny Cleaner Wrass to the Humphead Wrasser, of two meters or more, this fish is blue-green on the head with the body green or olive, there is prominent hump on the forehead.

The Parrotfishes eat algae, screaping it from corals with their modified teeth which form a sort of beak. The Parrotfishes are very important in sand producing because they ingest coral rock or sediment with the algae and grind it to separate it from their food.
The Rusty Parrotfish, charging color from being initially red-brown with three vertical bars on the body with the body and the fin yellow, the lips are blue-green with the head and shoulders pale orange-yellow. IT can grow to 40cm.There are 14 species of Butterflyfishes in the Red Sea, of which seven are endemic. They are among the most colorful fishes. The Stripped Butterflyfish, is fairly large reaching 27cm in length, it is orange-yellow with dragonal brown stripes on the body, there are a wide black bar ver the eye with a white band above it, the tail fin is rounded.
Another colorful group is the Angeldishes. The group Angelfishes are very different in color from the adults. The Arabiam Angelfish has the juvenile dark blue with white verticals stripes and a creaming white tail. The adults is black in the head and shoulders with a blue spot each scale. There a board, bright yellow, vertical stripe on the back, and the rear portion of the fish is bluish black, the tail fin is bright yellow, it is grow to about 35cm

The Sohal, is a suregeonfish with very sharp spines on the tall fins with which can deliver a nasty slash to another fish or to human who handles them without care. Thos aggressive fish grows to about 40cm..
The Triggerfish is so-named for its curious defense mechanism. There are two dorsal fins, the front one consists of three strong spines, if pursued or molested the fish retreats into a hole with small entrance and erects he first dorsal spine, locking it in a place with the second "trigger" spine, thus wedging itself in place.
The Picasso Triggerfish, is a beautifully colored and distinctively patterned species. This attractive fish reaches 30cm.

In the Red Sea whales and Dolphin's are probably more common than a number of slightings would indicate. Fourteen species of marine mammals have been recorded in the area.

Risso`s Dolphin is know in the northern Red Sea, it has medium size dolphin, averaging 3m and weighs around 300kg.It is robustly build on front of the tall fin and tapers toward the tail . There is a beak and central crease runs from the blowhole to the upper lip, The flippers are long and pointed. At birth it is dark gray but become pale with age, the flippers, fin and tail, remain dark.

All Risso`s Dolphins arquire many scars and their back become criss-crossed with white lines, they apparently feed mainly on squid and occasionally have sucker marks on their flanks and undersides, in addition to the scars on their back.
The Indo- Pacific Humpback Dolphin is around 2 m long and weighs about 85 kg., it has a long cylindrical beak and low rounded. The variable coloratish ranges from leaden gray to pale cream, some animals retain the pale background but develop gray yellow or reddish spots. It feeds in shallow water, often in mangrove swanps and eats fish, mollusks and crusacreans.