#The Speedster
Blue lined wrasse
This miniscule Great Barrier Reef local can speed-swim at ten times it's body length per second. That's the equivalent of a human running 100 metres in 5 seconds (Usain Bolt manages twice that at his best - what a slowcoach!). Fast swimmers thrive in shallow reef environments, where the constant breaking waves demand agility.
The blue lined wrasse is one of the fastest fish on the Reef. Credit Fishes of Australia
#The Best Boxer in the Ring
Mantis Shrimp
This little crustacean is just 10cm long, but it packs a very powerful punch. Mantis shrimp have calcified forelimbs that they use to strike down both predators and prey. Its punch is so fast and so powerful that the movement is barely visible to the naked eye and can even boil the water around it.
Get more fun facts about the mantis shrimp here.
#The Strongman
Parrotfish
Could you bite through rock? Well, parrotfish do it on the daily. They love to eat the algae that grows on coral, which means they have to eat the very hard stony coral as well! Their incredible teeth are fused as one to their jawbone. The crystalline structure of their teeth is so sturdy, it would beat gold, copper and silver in a fracture test.
Get more fun facts about the parrotfish here.
#The Endurance Swimmer
Humpback Whale
Olympic marathon runners clock 42 kilometres in their endurance event. Your average humpback whale on the other hand travels almost 600 times that each year! They swim over 25,000 kilometres along migration routes, swimming from Antarctica to a long layover at our Great Barrier Reef. Here, they breed, raise their calves and feed, before heading back down to colder waters.
Get more fun facts about the humpback whale here.
#The Artistic Gymnasts
Flatworm
The stage is set, the curtain rises, the music begins. Enter the flatworm! These colourful critters spend most of their time crawling on the reef floor, but when they want to travel longer distances, they dance! Using their flat, ribbon-like bodies, flatworms undulate through the water in a mesmerising dance that wins gold from us.
#The Triathlete
Sea Cucumber
Bet you thought this critter had the athletic ability of a vegetable. Think again! The sea cucumber (and more specifically its bottom) is our triple threat pick. Not only do they breathe and poop out of their backsides, but sea cucumbers also use the orifice to eject their stomach lining onto any wannabe lurking predators. And then there's the tricky little manoeuvre known as the 'bloat and float'. Sea cucumbers in a hurry can suck up water through their backside, flood their bodies and float away. Some have been clocked bloatin' and floatin' almost 90km in one day!
