Yellowtail Fusilier

Photo: K.L. Chew · CC BY-NC

Yellowtail fusiliers form enormous schools that orbit the coral ridges at Pulau Lima in the mid-water column, feeding on zooplankton concentrated by the inter-island currents. Their schooling behaviour is a predator-dilution strategy, and the near-constant presence of reef sharks and trevally in the vicinity explains the tightness of the formations. They are a foundational prey species that links the open water plankton ecosystem to the reef's larger predator community.