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.