Many of the fish that fall under the category ‘hunters’, tend to be a silvery shade. Though they potentially don’t possess the most exciting colours for underwater photographers, it’s truly fascinating to understand their behaviour! At Beyond The Corals, we will happily tell you more about this during our free on-land fish ID presentations.
Jacks
Jacks are strong-swimming predators. Schools occasionally pass over reefs in search of small fish and crustaceans. They have silvery sides, darkish backs and large eyes. They are thin, and have small tail bases that reduce drag. Their tails are usually deeply forked which facilitates speed and makes for an easy recognizing factor when practicing your fish ID.
Tarpon
Tarpon drift in canyons and secluded areas. Usually, tarpons school during the day and these large schools may inhabit a specific area on a reef for years. They have relatively small teeth and tend to swallow their prey whole. Their pray consist of a wide range of fish and crustaceans. Tarpon are active as hunters at night. It’s always an adventure to have tarpon swimming along with you during a night dive as we naturally light up their prey for them using our underwater dive lights.
Barracuda
Barracuda are most active during the day, feeding on jacks, grunts, grouper, snapper, squid and even other barracuda. They are often solitary in nature, but occasionally school in large numbers. They have even been documented “herding” fish they plan on consuming. Barracuda use their keen eyesight to hunt for food. They are one of the fastest fish in the ocean, capable of bursts of speed of up to 48 kph! Because they constantly work their formidable jaws to help circulate water through their gills while stationary, these voracious predators appear quite threatening but they aren’t at all.
Snapper
The behavior of snapping their jaws when hooked, give snappers their common name. They are medium-sized, oblong-shaped fish with triangular heads. Snappers are nocturnal predators that feed on crustaceans and small fish. They tend to be solitary but sometimes gather in small groups. The schoolmaster snapper is probably one of the easiest ones to recognize here on our reefs.