A lot of fish use camouflage, either for defense or for ambushing prey. From a photographic point of view, the nice thing about these kinds of fish are that they’ll remain stationary, relying on blending in, even when I get quite close. The downside, of course, is that it’s really hard to spot them unless they move.

Lately, I’ve been on a bit of a run of noticing some of these fish, moving or not. This stocky hawkfish remained glued to this spot even as I floated a foot or two away. It’s fun to see them on the move because they swim quite fast and then plunk down on a bit of rock or coral and are instantly still.

It’s a common sight to see an arc-eye hawkfish perched in a head of coral, well assuming you’re in the water that is. If a predator comes along, they slip deeper into the coral for protection.

There are two patterns to these fish. Sometimes they’re paler than this one and have a distinctive white stripe on the side. One study has shown that the lighter fish tend to inhabit slightly deeper water where the coral is spread farther apart. Both patterns have the arc behind the eyes and the blue and red bars on the gill covers.

Stocky hawkfish have terrific camouflage  They rest in the coral and can be very difficult to pick out.