Glassy Sweepers

Seen primarily by divers in caves, these iridescent copper fish are lovely to observe in a large school. Reaching a size of 15CM / 5.9IN, glassy sweepers are named for their peculiar style of evading predators by moving back and forth, back and forth. They are deep-bellied fish with large black eyes.

Yellow Goatfish

Most often seen in schools, goatfishes sport distinctive whisker-like chin barbells, similar to those on catfish. When feeding, goatfish use the barbells to prod the bottom, dig out a crustacean and devour it amid a cloud of sand. Yellow goatfish are shimmering white with a lemon yellow stripe that runs from eye to tail. Their tails? Also yellow.

Nassau Grouper

Once commonplace throughout our waters, overfishing created a decline in the number of groupers. These fish are so named for their habit of grouping together during spawning. At other times of the year, the fish are quite solitary and reclusive.

• Groupers possess enormous mouths, which they spring open suddenly to inhale any fish, crabs or lobsters
• The Nassau grouper may reach a length of 1M / 3.3FT
• Their light brown skin is patterned by white stripes and mottled with white and grey spots

Moray Eel

Morays are perhaps the most popular of our many eel species. Moviegoers may remember watching The Deep, which was set in Bermuda. The film starred a giant moray eel, which haunted a shipwreck beneath the waves.

• Eels are usually not so malevolent, preferring a reclusive lifestyle hiding within cracks and reef crevices during the day
• Because eels lack the gill covers of other fishes, they respire through their mouths
• Green moray eels, the largest of our eels, commonly reach a length of 1.8M / 6FT. With a mouth of sharp teeth, streamlined finless bodies capable of entering small cervices, and a keen sense of smell, morays are formidable predators

Parrotfish

An abundant fish in our reefs, its beauty and variety is impossible to take for granted. Several of this colourful species live here—stoplight, yellowtail, queen, midnight, redband and princess.

• Parrotfish are some of the more frequently met of our underwater ambassadors, as they are easily observed by even casual snorkellers, and will often allow you to venture quite close
• You may hear the fish’s specially adapted teeth scraping algae from the coral. The sound is rather distinctive, but can be equated with the sound of someone cutting tough chunks of polystyrene with a steak knife

Parrotfish night and day

As parrotfish nibble at algae on the coral, they ingest the coral as well. When their meals are expelled, the coral comes back out in the form of sand. This sand builds islands and islets. So in a small, but effectively steady way, parrotfish are in part responsible for building up our beautiful sand beaches.

• At nighttime, parrotfish build mucous cocoons among the coral nooks so they may sleep. These cocoons are believed to mask the fishes' odor from predators
• Parrotfish spend 30 minutes to an hour every night building their sleeping cocoons
• During the spring, vast schools of these fish cruise together
• The schooling behaviour of parrotfish is commonplace around our shores, but unknown elsewhere in the western hemisphere. Something about our island seems to make them more social. We doubt this is accidental