Coral Reef Animal Riddles: Printable Cards for Kids

Coral Reef Animal Riddles: who am I?

Cut along the dotted lines. Read the clues one at a time; the answer is upside down at the bottom.

Who am I?Coral Reef · 1
1. I live on warm coral reefs and swim around all day with my group.
2. When I get scared, I dive into a crack in the coral and squeeze in tight.
3. I swim by flapping my side fins, like rowing a boat, not by wagging my tail.
4. I have a sharp spine on each side of my tail, like a doctor's tiny knife.
5. I'm bright blue with a yellow tail, and a forgetful fish like me helps look for Nemo.
thoughtzoo.app It's the blue tang!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 2
1. I live in warm, shallow seas near Asia and Australia, on bright coral reefs.
2. I make popping and clicking sounds with my teeth when we argue about who is the boss.
3. I wave my fins over my eggs so they get fresh water to breathe.
4. My slimy coat keeps me safe inside a home that stings other fish.
5. I'm bright orange with three white bands, and I starred in a famous cartoon about a lost little fish.
thoughtzoo.app It's the clownfish!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 3
1. I live in warm seas all over the world, together with my family group.
2. I sleep with only half my brain at a time, so I never forget to breathe.
3. I have my very own special whistle, and my friends use it just like a name.
4. Underwater, I blow rings of bubbles and play with them, just for fun.
5. I'm grey with a friendly smile, and I love to leap out of the waves beside boats.
thoughtzoo.app It's the dolphin!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 4
1. I live in seas near the coast, all over the world.
2. I catch food in sticky slime on my body, and tiny hairs sweep it to my mouth.
3. Once, more than two thousand tiny ones like me flew into space.
4. I have no brain, no heart, no blood and no bones at all.
5. I'm a soft, see-through bell that drifts in the sea, and if you swim too close, I can sting.
thoughtzoo.app It's the jellyfish!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 5
1. I live in the sea and hide in a cosy den among the rocks.
2. I have no bones at all, so I can squeeze through a hole the size of a coin.
3. I can change my colour in less than a second.
4. I have three hearts, and my blood is blue.
5. I have eight long arms covered in suckers.
thoughtzoo.app It's the octopus!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 6
1. I live in warm, shallow seas all over the world, often among seagrass.
2. I have no stomach, so I must eat tiny shrimp almost all day long.
3. My eyes move on their own, so one looks for food while the other watches for danger.
4. I swim very slowly, so I hold on tight to seagrass with my square tail.
5. In my family, the dad carries the eggs in a pouch on his belly and gives birth to the babies.
thoughtzoo.app It's the seahorse!

Free for home and classroom use, not for sale. More riddles, and the game: thoughtzoo.app

Coral Reef Animal Riddles: who am I?

Cut along the dotted lines. Read the clues one at a time; the answer is upside down at the bottom.

Who am I?Coral Reef · 7
1. I live in ponds, rivers and warm seas, almost everywhere in the world.
2. I lived alongside the dinosaurs, and I'm still here long after they're gone.
3. When I live in the sea, I cry salty tears to get rid of the extra salt.
4. My babies, small as bottle caps, find the sea by heading toward the brightest sky.
5. I can never crawl out of my hard shell, because my ribs and backbone are joined to it.
thoughtzoo.app It's the turtle!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 8
1. I breathe air, but I spend my whole life in deep oceans all over the world.
2. I have no teeth, so I strain tiny shrimp called krill from huge gulps of seawater.
3. My tongue alone can weigh as much as a whole elephant.
4. Even though I'm giant, my throat is too narrow to ever swallow a person.
5. I'm the biggest animal that has ever lived, even bigger than any dinosaur.
thoughtzoo.app It's the whale!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 9
1. I live in warm, shallow seas near coral reefs and sandy beaches.
2. I have no bones at all, my skeleton is made of the same bendy stuff as your ears.
3. I grow new teeth my whole life, so every tooth I lose gets replaced.
4. I often swim in water so shallow that the fin on my back sticks out of the sea.
5. All my fins look dipped in black ink, especially the tall one on my back.
thoughtzoo.app It's the blacktip reef shark!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 10
1. I live in warm, shallow, sunny sea water near Australia and Asia.
2. Once I settle down on the reef, I stay in that same spot for my whole life.
3. Tiny living specks in my soft lips make food for me from sunlight.
4. My soft body has hundreds of tiny spots that work like eyes and notice shadows.
5. I'm heavier than two grown-ups, and my two huge wavy shells open wide on the reef.
thoughtzoo.app It's the giant clam!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 11
1. I live in warm seas and spend my days tucked inside a hole in the reef.
2. I can't see very well, so I sniff out my food with little tube-shaped nostrils.
3. A second set of jaws hides in my throat and shoots forward to grab my food.
4. Tiny shrimp pick pests off me, sometimes even from inside my mouth.
5. I'm a long snaky fish, I look green, and I keep opening and closing my mouth.
thoughtzoo.app It's the green moray!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 12
1. I live on warm coral reefs, and during the day I like to rest in caves.
2. I can go for weeks or even months without eating anything at all.
3. I squirt little jets of water at small fish, and that may confuse them.
4. I trap small fish against the reef with my wide fins, then swallow them in one fast gulp.
5. I'm striped, my big fins look like a mane, and my long spines carry venom.
thoughtzoo.app It's the lionfish!

Free for home and classroom use, not for sale. More riddles, and the game: thoughtzoo.app

Coral Reef Animal Riddles: who am I?

Cut along the dotted lines. Read the clues one at a time; the answer is upside down at the bottom.

Who am I?Coral Reef · 13
1. I live in a burrow I dig in the sand near coral reefs in warm seas.
2. My eyes sit on moving stalks and can look in two different directions at once.
3. My eyes can see special light that people cannot see at all.
4. I smash open snail shells and clams with my two strong hammer arms.
5. My punch is so fast that it makes bubbles pop, and it can even crack aquarium glass.
thoughtzoo.app It's the mantis shrimp!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 14
1. I live in warm, shallow sea water near coral, and I sleep at night.
2. I swim by flapping my side fins like wings, and I use my tail to dash fast.
3. At night I blow a see-through slime bubble around me, like a cozy sleeping bag.
4. I scrape algae off coral, and the bits I swallow come out of me as white sand.
5. I'm bright and colorful, and my teeth are joined into a hard beak like a talking bird's.
thoughtzoo.app It's the parrotfish!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 15
1. I live in warm seas all over the world, and some of my cousins live in rivers.
2. I swim slowly, but I can hover, swim backwards and spin on the spot like a tiny helicopter.
3. My teeth are joined into a beak like a parrot's, and I crunch open crab shells.
4. Some of us draw giant circle patterns in the sand, and for years nobody knew who made them.
5. When I'm scared, I gulp water and swell up like a spiky balloon.
thoughtzoo.app It's the pufferfish!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 16
1. I live in warm, clear seas and spend my days hiding in cracks in the reef.
2. When I was a baby, I was flat and see-through and floated in the ocean for months.
3. To grow, I wriggle out of my hard shell, then hide until my new one gets hard.
4. I can scare off hungry fish by rubbing my feelers against my head to make a creaky noise.
5. I have ten legs, no big claws, blue-green stripes and very long spiky feelers.
thoughtzoo.app It's the spiny lobster!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 17
1. I live in warm, shallow seas near America, and I look for food mostly at night.
2. When I rest, I flick sand over my back until only my eyes peek out.
3. Two little holes behind my eyes let me breathe even when my mouth is buried in sand.
4. My babies are born rolled up like little burritos, and they can swim right away.
5. I glide underwater on wide flat fins like wings, and my long thin tail has a stinging spine.
thoughtzoo.app It's the stingray!
Who am I?Coral Reef · 18
1. I live in warm, shallow sea water near coral reefs.
2. I can sit perfectly still for hours, waiting for a snack to swim close.
3. I open my huge mouth and suck in a shrimp faster than you can blink.
4. Sharp spines on my back carry strong venom, so please never step on me!
5. I look so much like a rock covered in seaweed that little fish swim right up to me.
thoughtzoo.app It's the stonefish!

Free for home and classroom use, not for sale. More riddles, and the game: thoughtzoo.app

Coral Reef Animal Riddles: who am I?

Cut along the dotted lines. Read the clues one at a time; the answer is upside down at the bottom.

Who am I?Coral Reef · 19
1. I live in the warm, shallow sea near Asia and Australia, and I'm about as long as your finger.
2. I'm busy all day long, and at night I hide in a crack in the reef to sleep.
3. I do a bouncy up and down dance so passing fish know my shop is open.
4. Even sharks and manta rays swim over to my reef just so I can pick tiny bugs off them.
5. Big fish open their mouths wide so I can swim right inside and wash them, and they never eat me.
thoughtzoo.app It's the cleaner wrasse!

Free for home and classroom use, not for sale. More riddles, and the game: thoughtzoo.app