Banded Jawfish - Scuba Club Cozumel

After our morning boat dives and lunch we got a tank and headed for a shore dive. We had noticed a shell lined hole the night before on a shore dive at Scuba Club Cozumel and Mary and I wanted to get a look at the occupant.

We found the hole at the mouth of a small cove in about 15 feet of water. This shell lined burrow is the home of the banded jawfish. They excavate the sand with their big mouths and move stones and shells around it with their powerful jaws. They only grow to about 6 inches but their head is huge in relation to their body.

I got set with my camera a short distance from the hole and knelt down in the sand. Mary was hovering nearby and we waited. The current began to increase and it became more difficult to stay in place and then suddenly we saw the tip of a head just barely protruding out of the hole. I pulled up my camera and the head disappeared.

Backing off even further from the hole we waited another 30 minutes before the jawfish was comfortable enough to let us get close with the camera. By that time the current was ripping and Mary was sitting on my tank to help me stay in place while taking photographs.