Blue Tang

Photo: Tim Cameron · © all rights reserved

Schools of several thousand individuals are a defining feature of Caleta Buena, their massed grazing on filamentous algae keeping the coral substrate clear across the entire reserve. The schooling behaviour is driven by both anti-predator defence and the efficiency of group foraging, as large schools can overwhelm the territorial defence of small damselfish. At dawn and dusk the schools coalesce near the inlet mouth, creating curtains of vivid blue that divers can swim through.