It’s been months since I last posted here… but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been diving. In fact, I’ve reached my 300th dive already, in less than a year!
Since April, I’ve collected thousands of photos and videos already, and I thought I should start sharing them here in a more purposeful manner. So, I thought I’d do a series on underwater marine life behavior. First up: the rockmover wrasse and its awesome feats.
It’s not called “pebble mover” or even “stone mover”. It’s a rock mover. I’ve seen this wrasse toss a piece of rock that was twice its size!
The rockmover wrasse (Novaculichthys taeniourus) displays this behavior of haphazard rearranging of the seabed when it’s hunting for food. Usually they do it as a pair — one turns over large pieces of rubble, while the other grabs at exposed prey. They feed on echinoderms (sea stars, sea urchins) and crustaceans (tiny crab).
I spotted this particular hyperactive wrasse at Dayang Beach, in about 40ft of water. It did have a partner but didn’t want to appear in my video. You can see opportunistic fish — mostly other types of wrasse — that hover around the rockmover as it does its business.
