Red Sea Marine Life: A Field Guide to the Fish, Corals and Big Animals of Egypt

Why is the Red Sea so rich in marine life?

The Red Sea combines warm, clear water, reefs that grow right up to the shore and a long isolation from the open ocean, which has produced a dense and partly unique community of reef life. It is a narrow, deep rift between Africa and Arabia, connected to the Indian Ocean only through the shallow strait of Bab el-Mandeb. No permanent rivers flow into it and it barely rains, so there is almost no silt, and evaporation makes it one of the saltiest seas on earth. The result is visibility that regularly exceeds 20 metres.

Because water exchange with the ocean is limited, many species have evolved here in isolation; estimates vary by group, but roughly one in ten Red Sea reef fish is found nowhere else. Research also suggests that corals in the northern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba tolerate temperatures well above their current summer maximum, which is why scientists see them as a possible refuge as oceans warm. For Australians the big difference from the Great Barrier Reef is geography: Egypt's reefs are fringing reefs that start at the beach rather than a barrier an hour or more offshore.

Which reef fish will you see first?

On your first snorkel expect clouds of orange anthias, parrotfish, butterflyfish, anemonefish and surgeonfish, all within a few metres of the surface. These are the species to learn first:

• Lyretail anthias: small orange and purple fish hovering in their hundreds over coral heads, darting into the branches when you approach.
• Red Sea anemonefish: the local clownfish, orange-brown with two white bands, living in sea anemones and boldly defending them, even nipping at divers.
• Masked butterflyfish: bright yellow with a blue-grey mask, usually in pairs; a Red Sea endemic and one of its signature fish.
• Parrotfish: you will often hear them before you see them, crunching algae from dead coral with beak-like teeth. Much of the white sand on Red Sea beaches has passed through a parrotfish.
• Arabian picassofish: a small triggerfish with blue, yellow and black markings that looks hand-painted.
• Humphead (Napoleon) wrasse: the giant, blue-green wrasse Australians know as the Māori wrasse, which can exceed two metres and is often curious about divers at Ras Mohammed and the offshore reefs.
• Blue-spotted ribbontail ray: a small ray with electric-blue spots, resting under ledges or on sand at the reef edge.

Add angelfish, unicornfish, goatfish sifting the sand, sergeant majors and moray eels peering from holes, and a single house-reef snorkel can easily show you 40 or more species.

Corals, giant clams and the reef builders

The reef itself is alive: hard corals build the structure, soft corals and sea fans colour the walls, and giant clams, worms and anemones fill the gaps. In the shallows you will see brain corals, table and staghorn corals and big rounded Porites heads that may be centuries old. On walls swept by current, especially in South Sinai, soft corals in pink, purple and orange open to feed and sea fans spread across the flow.

Look closely for giant clams wedged into the coral, their mantles patterned in electric blue, green or brown; they close slowly when your shadow passes over. Christmas tree worms retract into their tubes at a wave of the hand. Fire coral, a mustard-coloured hydrozoan that grows over other corals and wrecks, is not a true coral but stings painfully if you brush it. Because the whole structure is alive and grows slowly, reef etiquette matters; our reef-safe travel guide explains how to snorkel without damaging it.

Turtles, dugongs and dolphins

Green turtles are the easiest large animal to see, especially in the seagrass bays around Marsa Alam; hawksbills are common on the reefs; dolphins are regular in the south; and dugongs are now rare. Green turtles graze seagrass in a few metres of water, surfacing every few minutes to breathe, which makes Abu Dabbab Bay and nearby Marsa Mubarak two of the most reliable turtle snorkels in the world. Hawksbills, with their narrow, hooked beak and overlapping shell plates, feed on sponges along the reef. Both nest on sandy beaches and offshore islands in the summer months.

The dugong, a seagrass grazer related to the manatee, once fed predictably at Abu Dabbab; sightings have become rare, and if you do see one, stay still at the surface and never follow it. Spinner dolphins rest by day in the lagoons of Samadai and Sataya reefs south of Marsa Alam, and bottlenose dolphins are met on boat trips from Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh. Read swimming with dolphins in Egypt before you book a dolphin trip.

Sharks, rays and big fish

Sharks live mainly on the offshore reefs and are seen by divers far more than by snorkellers; the famous encounters are oceanic whitetips in autumn and hammerheads on the remote southern reefs. Oceanic whitetips are most often reported from about October to December at Elphinstone, the Brothers and Daedalus. They are bold and approach divers closely, so guides brief on staying calm, vertical and together, and on leaving the water promptly. Scalloped hammerheads school in deep water off the southern reefs in summer, and thresher sharks are sometimes seen at dawn at the Brothers. Grey reef and whitetip reef sharks appear on outer walls.

Whale sharks and manta rays pass through occasionally, most often in the warmer months, and spotted eagle rays glide along reef edges year-round. Schools of barracuda, jacks and snappers gather off Ras Mohammed, especially in summer. Experienced divers should read our scuba diving in Egypt guide and the Elphinstone Reef guide. Shark incidents near beaches are very rare against the number of swimmers, but take any beach closure seriously.

Which animals should you never touch?

Most reef animals are harmless if left alone, but a handful defend themselves with venom, spines or teeth, so the simplest rule is to touch nothing.

• Lionfish: native and common here, with striped, venomous spines; they hover in the open and don't flee.
• Stonefish and scorpionfish: camouflaged as rock or rubble, with highly venomous dorsal spines. Wear reef shoes and never put a hand or knee down.
• Titan triggerfish: large and territorial when nesting, especially in the warmer months. If one charges, swim away horizontally rather than upwards, because its territory widens towards the surface like an upturned cone.
• Moray eels: they open and close their mouths to breathe, which looks threatening; they bite only if hands come too close.
• Long-spined sea urchins and fire coral: the commonest causes of minor injuries, usually at shallow entries.

For a venomous spine sting, the standard first aid is to immerse the area in water as hot as the person can comfortably bear and get medical help. Dive centres and resort clinics deal with these regularly.

Where and when to see what

Every Red Sea base has good reef fish; choose Marsa Alam for turtles and dolphins, the offshore south for sharks, and South Sinai for dramatic coral walls and big schools.

Water is coolest at about 21–23°C in February and warmest at 28–29°C in August and September. Winter water is often clearest; plankton in spring can lower visibility for a few days but brings more feeding activity.

How to see more on every snorkel

Go early, move slowly and stay longer in one place: the reef reveals far more to a still observer than to a fast swimmer. Mornings are calmest and many fish are most active then. Hover over a single coral head for ten minutes and watch cleaner wrasse servicing larger fish, damselfish tending algae gardens and anemonefish guarding eggs. A laminated Red Sea fish identification card, sold in most dive shops, turns a snorkel into a game for children and adults alike.

A guided night snorkel or dive shows a different reef: parrotfish asleep in mucus cocoons, hunting morays, octopus and the red Spanish dancer nudibranch. If you are choosing where to stay, our snorkelling in the Red Sea guide compares the house reefs and boat trips at each resort. Because Egypt's seasons are reversed, Australians visiting over Christmas meet the coolest water of the year, so pack or hire a 3 mm wetsuit.