COVER:
 
The Great Barrier Reef's level of biodiversity is unmatched anywhere else in the world. |
January:
Ghost Goby, Pleuroscicya sp. on Giant Clam Mantle, Tridacna giga
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February:
Looking north along the line of outer barrier reefs from No-Name (foreground) to Yonge, Carter and Day Reefs.
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March:
Loggerhead Turtle, Caretta caretta. The Loggerhead is named for the size of its head and beak. Its powerful jaws can crush heavy clam shells and break up solid coral rock to extract prey.
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April:
Juvenile Golden Damsel, Amblyglyphidodon aureus. The Golden Damsel inhabits steep outer reef slopes where there are many gorgonian sea fans.
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May:
The Dusky Whaler, Carcharhinus obscurus, is rarely encountered by divers on the Great Barrier Reef - preferring an open-ocean existence beyond the continental shelf.
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June:
A pair of Masked Boobies, Sula dactylatra, with their chick on a sandy cay.
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July:
The Eastern Clown Anemonefish, Amphiprion percula, can be found swimming in the waters spanning the whole length of the Great Barrier Reef
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August:
A cluster of Acropora staghorn corals on the shallow reef flat near Heron Island in the Capricorn-Bunker Group of reefs.
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September:
Saddle Butterflyfish, Chaetodon ephippium. Butterflyfishes have strong spines that can be locked upright - making them a very prickly propostion for predators
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October:
Dendronephthya soft corals with feather stars, Comantheria sp., and a green coral tree, Tubastra micracantha.
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November:
One of the Great Barrier Reef's most enigmatic inhabitants is the Whale Shark, Rhincodon typus.
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December:
A large Barrel Sponge, Xestospongia testudineria, surrounded by many colourful gorgonian coral species.
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