The barlett’s anthias is a sea bass most commonly found on coral reefs in the western Pacific Ocean. This species survives on zooplankton and uses its bright colors to camouflage into the coral environment.

The barlett’s anthias lives in large schools with few males. The schools are made up of smaller groups called harems which have one male and somewhere between six and twenty females. This species, like other sea basses, are sequential hermaphrodites. This means they all begin life as females, but can change their sex from female to male.

You can see these colorful creatures in the Tropical Diver exhibit of the Georgia Aquarium.

• The maximum size for the fish is 3.5 inches
• The numbers in a single school can be in the thousands.
• Schools are found in areas of branching coral where they find shelter.
• The bartlett's anthias can be found in a variety of colors, which are part of their territorial display features.
• It is active during the day and spends most of its time swimming above coral reefs.

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