Tasselled Wobbegong

Photo: Poul Erik Rasmussen · © all rights reserved

Tasselled wobbegongs drape themselves across the pinnacle's coral ledges, their fringed skin appendages creating a convincing coral-rubble disguise as they wait motionlessly for fish to settle within striking range. They are ambush predators capable of biting with surprising speed when disturbed, and their cryptic presence on heavily dived sites like Ambon Pinnacle has produced many accidental close encounters for inattentive divers. Their consumption of reef fish makes them an important mid-level predator on the pinnacle ecosystem.