Our guides and guests have been finding a lot of leaf scorpionfish this week underwater in Amed, and just like Josephs’ coat we’ve been finding them in an amazing technicolour array.
The leaf scorpionfish (Taeniatonus Tricanthus) is an ambush predator, often found sitting on acropora corals or hard bommies with glassfish, waiting for a small fish to accidentally swim in front of it.. then boom! No more small fish, smiling leafy 🙂 In yet another example of natures tricks not only does the leaf scorpionfish look like a leaf, it often sways around in swell or current to enhance the disguise. No wonder it’s small prey are easily fooled.
Here in Amed we are lucky enough to have a huge variation in the colours of these fish, possibly because of the huge variety of hiding places for them. Colour variations we’ve seen lately have been white, pink, yellow, brown, purple and mixtures of those too! Leaf scorpionfish shed their skin at regular intervals, allowing for colour changes to match the background, and can also make themselves lighter or darker in order to remain better camouflaged. They are also a photographers favourite – partly because they look so cool, and partly because hey, it’s much easier to photograph a fish that’s not moving !