Crescent-tail Bigeye (Priacanthus hamrur): Bigeyes, also called Goggleyes or Bullseyes are nocturnal. Hence the especially large eyes to make the most of the dim light. During the day they hang suspended off the reef face often with their mouths open filtering-out the zooplankton and fish larva swept in by the ocean currents. As daylight fades they start feeding on bottom-dwelling invertebrates like crustaceans. Growing to 35 cm, Bigeyes are mostly seen in their red livery but they can rapidly change colour to plain silver, or when the mood takes them silver and red bars.

 

 

Moon Wrasse: (Thalassoma lunare) Very inquisitive towards snorkellers, the 22cm Moon Wrasse features a body vertically-lined with incomplete red. It varies in colour from dark green for the females to bright blue for the males and has pink bands radiating from the eyes. The pectoral fins of the male often feature bright colours.



Scribbled Leatherjacket: (Aluteres scriptus) What a wonderfully evocative name this member of the Filefish family has. It is not at all common in the Maldives but you will know it if you are lucky enough to see it. It averages 60 cm but can grow to a metre in length – a third of which is its extremely long tail. It is beautifully coloured in pale blue and yellow with plenty of black spots. It has an extremely varied diet including hydrozoa, sea anemones, gorgonias, tunicates and algae.

Squaretail Coral Grouper: (Plectropomus areolatus) Common in the Maldives the Squaretail Coral Grouper can be recognised by the straight vertical edge of the caudal or tail fin. Colour can vary from cream to black, but always with dark-edged round blue spots, and length ranges from 60 to 75 cm.

Sergeant Major: (Abudefduf vaigiensis) Named after the stripes it carries, the Sergeant Major, which can grow up to 15 cm, is very common in the Maldives. It will form large schools off the deep drop-off. Easily recognised by its four vertical thick blue stripes on a silver body with yellow blotches in between on the upper back. At spawning time the male prepares a nest on a bare patch of hard bottom that the female fills with as many as 25,000 eggs. These hatch a week later.

Porcupine Ray (Urogymnus asperrimus): The strange-looking Porcupine Ray is not a resident of the Maldives but is a frequent visitor. Covered with plate-like tenticles and sharp thorns, it is also known as the Roughskin Stingaree, Rough-skinned Ray, Solander’s Ray and Thorny Ray. The Porcupine Ray has an oval-shaped disc that can be up to a metre in disc width. Its dark-tipped tail with its dark tip lacks stinging spines and skin folds. The Ray's colour is whitish-grey to brown above and white below. This one was photographed in the lagoon of Biyadhoo Atoll.

Two-lined Monacle Bream (Scolopsis bilineata): A frequently-seen inhabitant of the Lagoon’s rubble area, the 20 cm Two-lined Monacle Bream looks as though it can’t make up its mind. It darts from one place to another stopping dead each time in a questioning way. In fact it has excellent eyesight and looks for signs of worms and small creatures in the rubble and sand. The slightest movement .. and lunch is served. Look for a grey body, the distinctive white head-stripe outlined in black that runs from under the eye to the middle of the back, the outsized eye and the darkened skin under the dorsal fin.