Nassau Grouper

Photo: Bernat Garrigós · © all rights reserved

Nassau groupers have claimed El Planchón as their territory, with three to five large adults stationed along the wreck's hull at any given time during daylight hours. They are critically endangered across the wider Caribbean due to overfishing of their predictable spawning aggregations, making the individuals on this protected wreck part of a regionally significant refuge population. As ambush predators, they lie motionless beside the wreck structure waiting for glassfish and small reef fish to venture within striking range, then engulf prey with a rapid vacuum strike.