The Great Barrier Reef is a special place. It’s a coral reef wonderland that’s home to more than 2,900 individual reefs and 9,000+ marine species. But there’s a special group that sits right at the top of my GBR bucket list. They’re living icons of the sea, and they’re called the Great 8 of the Great Barrier Reef. We’re learning all about them today.
1. Maori Wrasse
The Maori Wrasse is also known as the Humphead Wrasse. The reason for the name Humphead is pretty obvious, while Maori comes from their unique patterns that resemble the Maori art forms. It’s almost like they’ve got traditional Maori tattoos themselves.
They’re one of the biggest fish species in the entire Great Barrier Reef and they can reach a whopping length and weight of 6.6 ft. and 400 lbs. To be fair, they can live to be over 30 years old, so they’ve got enough time to reach that size. They’re the largest of all the Wrasse species and that says a lot because there are more than 600 of them worldwide. Don’t be afraid if you find yourself in the glittering waters of the reef and a humongous fish with a strange head approaches you. They’re very curious and so gentle and friendly!
2. Potato Cod
Potato cods belong to the grouper family along with sea basses and other groupers with unique names, like the peacock and leopard coral groupers. They go by three names, which are potato grouper, potato bass, and potato cod. However, the reasoning behind their name stays the same. It’s all because of the brown spots on their scales that look like potatoes.
They’re super big, like 6.6 ft. and 220 lbs. big. Despite their size and intimidating appearance, they’re also one of the calmest and most curious species in the Great Barrier Reef. Divers really do love them because they enjoy seeing humans in their world, so they’ll swim right up to you to say hello!
3. Giant Clam
The giant clam is the largest living bivalve mollusk. That’s more than a mouthful, but it comes down to invertebrates that have soft bodies and two shells that are hinged together. The rest of the bivalve mollusks include regular clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, etc. You get the point, right?
Giant clams live on the ocean floor, where they live and grow for over 100 years. They’ve got even more time than the Maori Wrasse to reach a weight of 440 lbs. and a length of 3.3 ft. You’ll be able to spot them all over the Great Barrier Reef, but they mostly live in broken coral and coral sand. Don’t try to touch one of these guys, no matter how shiny or beautiful it looks. They quickly shut their hard shells if they feel something is getting too close and you could end up getting hurt.
4. Clownfish
If you’ve seen Finding Nemo or Finding Dory, you’ll know all about this fish. If you’ve seen it, you probably know all about the Great Barrier Reef too. Clownfish are one of those fish with huge personalities and if you ask me, it really matches their bright appearance. You don’t have to look far to spot a school of these orange beauties because they’re always hanging around anemones – or anemone-ne-anem-menemone-anemones like our friend Nemo would say. They’ve got a symbiotic relationship with anemones because they lure fish to them in exchange for food scraps and protection against predators.
5. Turtle
Six of the world’s seven marine turtle species call the reef their home. Turtles may be a fantastic addition to that growing must-see list of yours, but they’re also very important to the Great Barrier Reef. They excrete nutrients that help the coral polyps grow, eat jellyfish to control the population, eat seagrass before the beds overgrow, and control algae levels. When it comes to turtle vs. tortoise and what they mean to the ecosystems in Australia, the turtle is king.
6. Manta Ray
Before we continue, remember that there’s a difference between stingrays and manta rays. Mantas are strictly saltwater inhabitants, while the stingray can also live in freshwater habitats. The manta ray is the largest ray species, and their wings can span up to 23 ft. That could be quite the sight while you’re looking for tiny clownfish, but you don’t have to worry because they’re literally gentle giants. Plus, you’ll probably only encounter one at a time because they’re solitary creatures. They’re also one of the most intelligent marine animals, which is why they’re able to recognize themselves and travel far to find food.
7. Shark
There are more than 500 species of sharks. Considering the fact that they’re living descendants of dinosaurs and more than a little scary – that’s somewhat concerning. OK, very concerning. Fortunately, only about 50 of these species live in the Great Barrier Reef. A couple of them are the most dangerous sharks in the world, but what the heck. We aren’t on their list of delicacies anyway and attacks are more uncommon than you may think.
So, what do sharks eat in the wild then? They actually play a big role in keeping the reef ecosystem balanced because of what they eat. Different species enjoy different foods, like the tiger shark that eats turtles while the hammerhead shark would much rather snack on stingrays.
8. Whale
Unfortunately, some of the most endangered marine species in the world also live in the Great Barrier Reef and the majority of them are whales. The reef houses some of the most dangerous whales, like killer whales, as well as some of the biggest whales, like the sperm whale. Then, there’s also the humpback whale, false killer whales, short-finned pilot whales, and beaked whales. In fact, around 30 of the world’s 91 whale species are found here, but one of the species that divers see most is the dwarf minke whale.
