How to Draw a Coney

In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Coney in 8 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.

The images above represent how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.

Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.

At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Coney.

Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.

How to Draw a Coney - Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1: First draw the face and head. The head looks like a "W" on its side with the pointy side on the left. This is the mouth. Add a large round eye at the top of the head line.

Step 2: Continue the top head line back and curve it gradually down and then up at the very end. Keep drawing the bottom head line back and curve it gradually upwards.

Step 3: Halfway along the top of the bottom body line draw a small fin. It is an open oval shape with the open end toward the head.

Step 4: Under the first fin and along the bottom body line draw a half oval shape for a bottom fin. To the right of that fin add another half oval shaped fin. It is a squiggly line.

Step 5: Along the top of the back line draw a very jagged oval shaped fin all the way to the back of the line. This is the upper fin.

Step 6: Draw a squarish shaped tail between the ends of the two body lines.

Step 7: There are small circles all over the body, tail and fins. These are the spotted patterns.

Step 8: Finally, add stripes along the four fins and the tail. Don't forget to add curved lines around the mouth to make the gills.

Interesting Facts about the Coney(Cephalopholis fulva):

The Coney is a type of small grouper (fish) that comes in three different color forms. In deep water, the Coney is red or dark brown; in shallow waters, the Coney is orange-brown or a bicolored orangey-brown top half with a pale bottom half. In both the deep and shallow water color forms, the Coney is also covered in small blue spots. A third color form, called the xanthic form, is yellow and is found in both shallow and deep waters. The Coney usually grows from 33-42 centimeters long, but lengths of 55 centimeters have been recorded.

Did you know?

  • Some other names for the Coney include “butterfish”, “rockhind” and “yellowfish”.
  • The Coney can change its color when excited or at certain times of day.
  • This little grouper likes to hide under ledges and inside of caves during the day.
  • Cleaner shrimp and a small fish called the goby both like to clean the Coney.
  • The Coney is “protogynous” which means that females transform into males! This occurs when a mature female reaches a length of 20 centimeters.

The Coney’s range is the western Atlantic Ocean, from the U.S. state of South Carolina all the way down to southern Brazil. It prefers clear water and lives in coral reefs. It is not currently in danger of extinction, but as worldwide fishing pressure increases, many scientists believe the Coney and other groups will need to be monitored.

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