Anthias

Anthias are small plankton-feeding fish that hover in vast pink-and-orange clouds above coral heads, all facing into the current, mouths working continuously to pick plankton from the water. A single coral pinnacle can host thousands.

They live in harems — one large pink male per group of 10–30 smaller orange females. If the male dies, the largest female changes sex and colour within days to take over. The colour shift is striking and visible on long dives at the same site.

They make every wide-angle Red Sea or Maldives reef shot work. Brothers Islands, Daedalus, Maldives channels, Andaman walls — every healthy reef has anthias clouds. Position the camera under the cloud and shoot up with the sun behind.