Moorish Idol

Photo: David R · CC BY-NC

Moorish idols drift in pairs through the coral gardens of Ilot Maitre, their dramatically elongated dorsal filaments and bold black, white, and yellow banding making them one of the most visually iconic of all reef fish. They feed on encrusting sponges and algae using their long pointed snouts to probe crevices inaccessible to most other fish, occupying a specialized foraging niche that makes them an important regulator of sponge distribution across the reef surface.