Bogue

Photo: heuglini · CC BY-NC

Dense schools of bogue rotate through the mid-water column above the reef, feeding on zooplankton and connecting the planktonic food web to larger predators such as amberjack and barracuda that follow their movements. Their schooling behaviour is a direct response to predation pressure and provides an extraordinary visual spectacle for divers drifting over the terrace edge. Population densities peak in summer when warmer surface water drives plankton blooms.