Pinnate Batfish

Photo: Malcolm Francis · CC BY-NC

Pinnate batfish aggregate in large schools around the Konanda's bridge and mast, forming one of Port Vila's most iconic underwater vignettes as they rotate slowly in the current. These fish are strongly site-faithful — the same school has been documented at the wreck for years — and their presence in this number indicates the wreck's maturity as a reef structure. Juveniles with their dramatic black-and-orange coloration occasionally shelter inside the protected cargo holds.