Sinking to the sandy bottom on a dive in Saba Mary and I settled in to watch some goatfish feed. If you dive you have probably passed by these ubiquitous fish without a second thought. Next time slow down and observe the beauty of the texture, shape and color of this common fish and you just might be amazed.
The spotted goatfish can dramatically change color from white to blotched and mottled red to reddish brown when inactive. If you are very still they will approach closely. Look at the beautiful symmetry of the overlapping scales. Look closer and you will see the scales have yellow tips that give the appearance of light waves rippling across the body. Light blue dashes streak from the mouth across the eye to the tail fin as if painted on by a brush. A row of three large brown blotches look as if an artist just dabbled her brush on the canvas of his body as an afterthought.
You cannot see it from these photographs but there are two barbels under the tip of the chin that the goatfish uses to dig in the sand. Notice his chin is in the sand and the sand is stirred up. They do this to find little crustaceans and invertebrates to eat. Occassionally they will scare up something bigger and you might see a bar jack swoop in and gobble it up.
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