Atlantic spadefish

Photo: Brian Gratwicke · CC BY

Atlantic spadefish congregate in large schools around prominent structures including pinnacles and wrecks, and Diamond Rock's multiple faces regularly host aggregations of several hundred individuals that move in shifting silver curtains around the rock. Juveniles mimic dead leaves floating at the surface to evade predators, while adults are relatively large-bodied and bold around divers. They feed on jellyfish, small invertebrates, and zooplankton, and their schooling behavior appears to serve both predator-confusion and feeding functions as the school sweeps through plankton patches.