Spangled Emperor

Photo: Nicolò Palumbo · CC BY-NC

This large and commercially important species is present in significant numbers at Zirku, a sign that the area has lower fishing pressure than reefs closer to the UAE coast. Schools patrol the sandy flats between coral bommies, feeding on buried invertebrates and small crustaceans that they detect with their acute lateral line system. Their recovery on remote Gulf reefs provides a benchmark for what the coastal reef fish community once looked like before intensive artisanal and recreational fishing pressure.