Maldives Ocean Fish – An Explosion of Colour

These beauties sport bright colours such as yellow and orange, and at night, inhabit reefs such as those found in the surrounding waters of many 5 star hotels in Maldives (called house reefs) such as Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas and others. Their colouration often makes them looks like they are striped.

The name of this fish is no doubt familiar to you, as it features on the menus of seafood eateries around the world. Spanning between a good sixty to eighty centimetres, the barracuda is not a particularly interesting fish in terms of appearance, as it isn't really colourful, but is a very popular one both for gastronomic purposes as well as for the sport of recreational fishing.

This fish has bands of orange and white running all over its body, with little bits of black interspersed in between. Compared to the Barracuda above, it is a tiny fish, reaching on average on around ten to eighteen centimetres. An interesting fact to note is that this little fish has quite a lot of moxie; it can actually resist the poison produced by anemones, and so use them for protection and shelter. It just goes to show - size really doesn't matter after all, wouldn't you say?

Here's a fish that changes it's stripes over time! The oriental sweetflip starts out as being a fully striped fish. However, as it ages, it trades in some of its stripes for spots instead! It tail, along with some of its fins, go from being striped along with the rest of its body, to sporting an abundance of thick, non-uniform black blotches on a contrastingly yellow backdrop, that forms a striking spot-like pattern.

The blue stripe snapper is sure to have your head spinning if you observe it during the mating season. This fish really knows how to put on a show, as it woos its partner by fluttering around in circles with them. The pair builds up momentum and dances upwards towards the water's surface. Talk about reaching a climax!

This is one liberal fish. It can't seem to make up its mind about its own gender or colour! Growing only about up to a hundred and twenty centimetres in length, this fish changes colour and sex many times during its life. Would that we as humans were all so liberal and easy-going. The parrotfish sure could teach us all a thing or two about walking a day or two in someone else's shoes.

This fish is a baller. Well, at least the male of species. A real lothario, the male lagoon triggerfish goes around impregnating a score of females, leaving them to protect the eggs while it continues gallivanting around town, or rather the atolls!