The parks has a wide variety of marine habitats. The rocky shores, mangrove swamps, mud flats, sea grass beds, cora reefs and sea trenches, providing diverse and fascinating insight into the underwater world.

FISHES
The easiest to find particularly on the shores of Peucang Island are the brillianty colloured reef browsing fish with colors and pattern from nature at its most vivid and creative. Of these perhaps the most beautiful is the black, white and lemon vertical striped Moorish Idols with long, sweeping dorsal fins emphasizing its gracefulness.

Delicate yet boldy patterned butterlyfishes come in various shades of white, yellow and orange with black markings and often have a black vertical stripe through the eye. Usually found in pairs, when alarmed they use their fins and spines to firmly wedge themselves in crevices in the reef.

The most common clownfish in Ujung Kulon are golden brown in colour with white bands across the body. Often found sheltering amongst the tentacles of sea anemones, the muscous of the clownfish contains a subtance that makes the stinging anemone believe it is onve of its own.
Other outstanding fishes include the imaginatively patterned angelfish of which the Emperor Angelfish with thin blue and yellow horizontal striped and a bright orange tail is a wonderful example.

Yet another spectacular species is represent by the lionfish which motionlessly hovers over the reefs spreading black and white striped find in a bird-like display. Although usualy placid, if approached too closely can infict an extremely painful sting from the row of poisonous spines along its back.

Often the larger fish are just as eye catching with brilliant red rock cod and snappers, orange striped trigger fish, banded and mottled morays eels and exquisitely patterned surgeon fish. The colorful parrotfish has teeth that are fused into a parrot like beak with which it crushes corals and molluscs into fine coral sand. They sleep inside loose cocoons constructed of mucous, sand and weeds in crevices in the reef.

Marine mammals that visit the coastline include the regularly seen dolphins and the unusual and rarely seen dugong or sea cow.

Ujung Kulon National Park

Introduction | The Land | Plant Life | Wild Life | Marine Life | The People | Attractions