Peruvian Grunt

Photo: Brandon Ortiz Arenas · CC BY-NC

Peruvian grunts school in dense silver clouds around the kelp-draped rock formations of the Ballestas, their pale bodies with dark lateral stripes packing so tightly that individual fish are indistinguishable from a distance. These fish are an important mid-trophic link in the Humboldt Current ecosystem, feeding on invertebrates and in turn being preyed upon by sea lions, dolphins, and sharks. Their sheer abundance around the arches creates a living wall of fish that divers can swim through, an experience unique to cold-water productive upwelling systems.