Spotted Garden Eel

Colonies of spotted garden eels populate the sandy lagoon floor around the bommies, each individual anchored by its tail in a self-excavated burrow and swaying in the current like a field of living grass as they pick zooplankton from passing water. At the first sign of disturbance the entire colony vanishes simultaneously into the sand, and their communal vigilance behavior — where individual eels monitor neighbors' alarm responses — allows the colony to react to distant threats far faster than any individual could alone.