©2009 Full Circle Magazine.
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A school of big-eyes possibly imitating one very big fish
fishes with large upturned mouths. The
scientific name for the family, Priacanthidae,
refers to the group’s rough spiny scales. The
earliest identifiable fossils of this family are
dated from 40- to 50-million years ago.
The interesting thing about these fishes is their
ability to change their colour very rapidly.
They can be a deep red and then change to
a pale silver. They may also become mottled or
barred. The change is so profound that they
appear to be different species. Why do they do
this? It may be a form of warning, a form of
camouflage or some secret form of reef-
communication that we as yet do not
understand.
September 2009 Vol6 No9
Big-eyes are usually seen in caves during the day
Big-eyes may also have bars of colour on their flanks
Emerging from their cave in a group, big-eyes circle
a pinnacle
