Trumpetfish

Trumpetfish are long, slender, tube-shaped reef fish that hover vertically among sea fans and gorgonians, perfectly disguised as a coral branch. They're masters of 'shadow-stalking', they swim alongside larger non-predatory fish (groupers, parrotfish) using the bigger fish as a moving blind to approach prey.

Their colour-shifting is impressive: blue-green, yellow, brown, sometimes solid red, they match the substrate and reef they're hunting in. The strike is sudden, the tubular mouth expands rapidly and vacuums in small fish whole.

Found everywhere in our region: Maldives, Andaman, Bali, Red Sea. Their vertical pose against sea fans makes them deceptively easy to miss until you train your eye for the long thin silhouette.