Batfish

Photo: Albertini maridom · CC BY-NC

Long-finned batfish form loose schools around the superstructure of Dutch Bay's shallowest wreck, their disc-shaped bodies and trailing dorsal and anal fins making them among the most recognisable wreck fish in the Indo-Pacific. They are curious and approachable, often circling slowly around divers as if inspecting the intruder, a behaviour that suggests habituation to the rare dive operators who visit these sites. Juveniles shelter in shallower seagrass and rubble areas nearby, mimicking dead leaves with an undulating swimming motion that provides camouflage from predators.