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Also known as the double sash butterflyfish, this is the only butterflyfish species to be found in both the Indian (warm) and the Atlantic (cold) oceans.

The South African butterflyfish is endemic to our coast.

Ragged-tooth sharks, also known as grey nurse sharks in Australia and as sand tiger sharks in the USA, occur in temperate to tropical coastal waters of the Atlantic, Indian and western Pacific oceans. In South Africa they are common along the eastern and southern coasts, occurring as far west as False Bay.

Like all crustaceans, rock lobsters have a hard exoskeleton (meaning the skeleton is on the outside of the body rather than on the inside like ours). The skeleton is jointed, allowing rock lobsters to move quickly and efficiently on their 10 jointed legs. Although the hard exoskeleton is like armour or a bullet-proof vest and protects them from predators, rock lobsters have to shed the skeleton in order to grow. This is called moulting. During moulting, rock lobsters are soft and vulnerable to predators until their new shell hardens.

These deep-water rock lobsters live at depths of between 90 and 170m. Because they are deep-sea creatures, they are only caught commercially using baited lobster pots.

Sea stars (we don’t call them starfish anymore, because they’re not really fish!). Sea stars belong to the echinoderm group and their scientific name is Asteroidea.

These creatures are common on the rocky shores of the Western Cape. They are either orange or blue grey in colour. The spines are surrounded by a circle of tiny white nippers that are used for defence and to keep the starfish clean.

Honeycomb moray eels are widespread throughout the world, from the eastern coast of Africa to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

These “flat frogs” live in natural waterbodies, but you might see them in your garden pond. They also don’t mind living in the local sewerage works. At the end of the rainy season, they bury themselves under wet mud, where they hibernate until the next rains.

The Western leopard toad uses camouflage to blend into its environment and hide from predators. The Western Cape is the only place in the world where you will find Western leopard toads. They live in natural vegetation, on farms and in compost heaps in gardens, but move to water, especially wetlands, to mate and lay their eggs. Keep your eyes open for Western leopard toads on the roads particularly in August when they are breeding and in November when the young toads are making their way from the water to land. Please brake for the toads!

Rockhopper penguins are the smallest of the crested penguin species. They live on rocky, inaccessible coasts and are renowned for their jumping ability.

Anemones are simple animals that look like delicate flowers. But these “flowers” can move and catch prey. Anemones have poisonous barbs in their tentacles that fire on contact, injecting poison into their prey. To protect themselves, anemones secrete a special slime that prevents the stinging cells on one tentacle from firing when they come into contact with other tentacles or with the anemone’s body.

The common octopus lives at depths of up to 200m and feeds on crabs, shellfish, and rock lobsters. It lives in crevices and holes and is fiercely territorial.

The longnose butterflyfish is the most widespread species of butterflyfish also known as big-nosed butterflyfish, forcepsfish or yellow longsnout butterflyfish.