Peacock Grouper

Peacock Grouper

Length is up to 40 cm.

It's rare to see it in the Red Sea and occasional in the southern Arabia Sea.

Can be found on a depth between 1 and 40 meters.

Occurs on both lagoon and seawards reefs, particularly in areas of rich coral growth and clear water.

Juveniles seems to prefer shallow, protected coral thickets.

Adults may occur in pairs or in small groups

20 kinds of Groupers

Red Sea Coral Grouper 

It grows to a length of 110 cm and lives in a depth of 10 to 50 meters.

It can be found in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

It's a very common Grouper specially in the northern Red Sea.

It's found in the coral reefs, hovering some times over sandy areas and sea grass fields.

The predator has been observed attacking garden eels in their colony in sandy slopes with coral blocks.

It's often found in ship wrecks.

It's basic coloration is quite variable.

Thorny seahorse

• Length up to 2.5 cm
• Distribution RS & AS
• Depth 1 - 20 m.
• Lives in the sea grass or in the crevices of the coral reefs.
• The adult individuals cling to branches of floating algae.
• Often lives in monogamous pairs, greeting each other in the morning with a special, ritualized dance.
• Courtship and the transfer of eggs into the male's brooding pouch follow a species specific patter of synchronized, mutually harmonizing behavior.
• insemination of the eggs by the male still remains a mystery and is controversially discussed among specialists.
• There are tiny canals in the tissue that forms the inner lining of the pouch, which probably serves as the pathway for the sperm.
• The fertilized eggs are carried and thus guarded several weeks in the male,s pouch till the fry hatches.
• The juveniles are born as miniature replica of their parents without going through a true plank tonic larval stage.

** Information provided based on the Red Sea Reef guide.
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Soft coral Seahorse

• It can be found only in the Red Sea.
• The length is up to 2.5 cm.
• The depth is 20 meters and deeper.
• It's very rare to be found and or photographed.

                        General information about Sharks

                                              Mako 

Length 175 cm      Weight 63 Kg       Food cons. 2.000 Kg/d         730 Kg/y

Lemon (immature)

Length 150 cm      Weight 80 Kg       Food Cons. 1.100 Kg/d         380 Kg/y

Lemon Negraprion brevirostris

Length 70 cm     Weight 10 Kg     Food cons. 0.300 Kg/d     100 Kg/y

Lemon 

Length 274 cm     Weight 150 Kg     Food cons. 3.500 Kg/d     1200 Kg/y

Scalloped hammerhead sphyrna lewini

Length 200 cm     Weight 49.9 Kg     Food cons. 0.680 Kg/d     248.2 Kg/y

Blue Prionace glauca 

Length 187 cm     Weight 48.6 Kg     Food cons. 0.276 kg/d     100.7 Kg/y

Nurse Ginglymostoma cirratum

Length 250 cm     Weight 152.4 Kg     Food cons. 0.450 Kg/d     164.3 Kg/y

Sand-tiger

Length 137 cm     Weight 50 Kg     Food cons. 0.680 Kg/d     248.2 Kg/y

Sandbar (juv)

Length 150 cm     Weight 32.8 Kg     Food cons. 0.143 Kg/d     52.2 Kg/y

* The above information re found in a book called SHARKS by Angelo Mojetta

Gargonia in Sharm El Sehikh Red Sea Egypt ( Pirates Dive Club )

                                                                       

In Sharm El Sheikh you can find the Gargonia in many dives sites, in the north they are very special in Jackson reef, Woodhouse reef and Thomas reef.

In the south they are found in Ras Gozlani, Jack fish Ally and Shark & Yolanda reef.

Along the coast they are found in Ras Um Sid, Near garden, Ras Nasrani.

In the above sites you can find them in big numbers and in different sizes but these are not the only dive sites where you can find the gargonia, almost in all the dive sites in Sharm El Sheikh you can see them.

The Gargonias grows to be very big and can reach as I saw my self around 4 meters width and in general they grow to be big in the sites where the currents can be strong.

The Gargonias manage to bent with the current and not break down but with the small touch from a human they tend to break so always make sure to keep a distance from it when you are diving and making photos.

I noticed that they are growing in big numbers in the inside of Ras Zaatar, I saw them on the inside of this site around 12 years ago and they were small starting from 20 cm up to may be 50 cm so now they must be much bigger.

The next time I am diving on the inside of Ras Zaatar I will make some photos of them and publish these photos so every one can see how much they grew in these years.

Pirates Dive Club student divers special offer

                                             



The following offer is for any student diver who finished both open water and advanced open water courses with Pirates Dive Club.

You are more than welcome to join us for the Nitrox course for FREE and this is not all, you will get the Nitrox tanks for FREE life time so what are you waiting for!!!!! Time to claim your FREE Nitrox course.

Get a 1 day diving for FREE when you book 4 days diving.

Get a 1 day diving and 1 third dive FREE when you book the 5 days package.

You will need to register your booking before 31st November 2013, this offer is valid for 2014.

Please e mail us on diving@piratesdiveclub.com

Pirates Dive Club special offer for repeater guests

As you all know the Pirates Dive Club guests are getting a 20 % reduction but now we decided to do even more for the repeater guests who's been diving with us for longer than 3 years.

All our guests who joined us since December 2010 or earlier will be getting a 30 % reduction on any diving package starting from 4 days package.

Also these guests will be granted a 25 % reduction on any Padi courses they choose to do with us.

Please remember that all our prices includes the transfers.

This offer is valid if you register your booking before 31st November 2013 for any holiday during 2014.

For more information please e mail us on diving@piratesdiveclub.com

Milk Fish, Pirates Dive Club, Sharm El Sheikh, Red Sea, Scuba diving, Padi courses

Milk Fish

The Milk fish can grow to a length of 180 cm & they live on a depth between the surface and 30 meters.

They can be found in open seas, fresh to salt waters, mangroves, lagoons and outer reef slopes.

They feed on algae and sieves sediment for invertebrate fauna.

They are also seen with mouth open feeding on algal scum on the surface of the water.

This family is monotypic.

In Sharm El Sheikh they are generally seen when we are doing our safety stops, snorkeling and even when 

we are on the boat we can see them coming up to the surface to feed.

We do seem them every where in Sharm and some times we joke about it saying these are sharks or baby 

sharks because from a distance they can deceive you and you might believe it.

Ref: Red Sea Reef Guide book
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Moray Eels in the Red Sea

Moray Eels in the red sea

There are around 15 kinds of Moray Eels living in the red sea of which:

Yellow head Moray Eel: 

                                    They are about 55 cm long, lives on a depth between 3 and 30 meters, they are generally shy species and are active more during the night and they are rarely seen.

Yellow-edged Moray Eel:

                                   They can grow to 120 cm and lives on a depth between 3 and 60 meters, they have a strong dentition and they use it to feed on the smaller reef fish during the night time.

They are rarely seen entirely out in the open.

Undulate Moray Eel:

                                 They grow up to 150 cm, lives on a depth between 1 and 30 meters.

They live in the reef flats found among coral debris, lagoons and seaward reefs.

Yellow mouth Moray:

                                They grow up to 180 cm on a depth between 4 and 165 meters, they live in caves singly or in pairs and have the tendency to leave the caves during the day time.

They are distinguished by the bright yellow color on the inside of their mouth.

Honey comb Moray:

                               The length can be 200 cm, depth between 5 and 40 meters, they very attractive for their colors specially for the photographers, they feed on fish and they are relatively common.

Drab Moray:

                               Length can reach 56 cm, depth 2 to 20 meters, they are uniformly colored pale brown above and lighter below. They live in shallow turbid waters, despite that they are common it is rarely seen by divers.

White Ribbon Eel:
                               They grow up to 105 cm, lives on a depth between 10 and 30 meters, they inhabits shallow reef flats, sheltered coastal reefs and lagoons.
It's recognized by it's pale coloration ribbon like body and rarely seen by divers even during the night.

Peppered Moray
                           Then are around 38 cm max, living on a depth between 1 and 40 meters.
They are often seen more than other kinds of Morays and they are confined to coral reefs.They are yellow in color with light brown spots while from the head to the dorsal fin is brownish grey.
The teeth on the sides of the upper  jaw are relatively short while the inner jaw teeth are larger with single raw in the lower jaw and front of the upper jaw.
The largest teeth in the mouth are two in the median row, they use their dentition to grab the small fish during the night and swallow them as one piece as the teeth can't cut them into smaller pieces.

Painted Moray:
                       They grow up to 68 cm on a depth between 0 & 12 meters, inhabits tide pools and reef flats.
On low tide you can seem them entirely out of the water eating a crab.

White eyed Moray:
                            They grow up to 65 cm, depth 1 to 35 meters, inhabits coastal silty shallow coral reefs, lagoons and isolated reefs on muddy or sandy slops.
It's recognized for it's light brown or tanned colored body with very faint mottling, a light to bluish snout and silvery white eyes, they are often found as pairs or with other kinds of Morays like the Zebra.

Leopard Moray: 
                        They grow up to 120 cm, depth 5 to 20 meters, very rare Moray, it's color is pale brown to pale yellowish with a lot of large small dark irregularly rounded spots, the teeth are sharp and slender.

Snowflake Moray:
                          Length can be 80 cm, depth 2 to 30 meters, common to see in shallow water on reef flats and rocky shores. It is white with lots of black spots and or irregular irregular lines and to or three longitudinal rows of large dendritic blotches containing small yellow spots. They are active mainly during the night hunting small fish mainly crabs.

Zebra Moray: 
                      They grow up to 150 cm, depth 10 to 50 meters, feeds on small reef creatures. They can be seen only during the night time and they are fairly common.

Dragon Moray:
                       Length up to 85 cm, depth 15 to 50 cm, inhabits coral reef crevices and seems to prefer rocky reefs. It is recognized by it's ornate pattern of spots and bars. The body is orange brownish with lots of round white spots. The head has narrow orange wand white bars. The jaws are hooked and bear long canine teeth in a single row with small conical teeth in between.

                              

Ref: Red Sea Reef Guide book
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Giant Moray

The Giant Moray can grow up to 3 meters long and it's possible to see it in the Red Sea.
They live on a depth between 10 to 50 meters.
They have yellow-brown heads with small dark spots and a large patch at the gill opening.
The adult ones have like a leopard spotting all over their bodies.
The dentition of this Moray is very special, the jaws bear canine teeth arranged in one raw, they are compressed and very sharp.
The teeth at the front of the jaws are long and fang-like, the two longest are in a median row on the roof of the mouth.
The species occurs in lagoons as well as seaward outer reefs.
Like all morays it is a nocturnally active predator feeding on a variety of reef fishes.

Photo by Moody Mehanna in Sharm El Sheikh , Egypt

Ref: Red Sea Reef Guide book
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