Large dogtooth snapper fish is a surprisingly intelligent night predator

The reefs in Belize are mysterious and fascinating. They are full of life during the day, with colors and sights to keep a scuba diver wide-eyed in wonder the entire time that they are exploring beneath the waves. There are fish of uncountable varieties, shapes and sizes. The food web is complex and a predator can become prey in the blink of an eye. It's a delicate struggle for survival that can change in an instant.

Scuba divers were returning from a deep dive and making their way through the shallower waters on their return to the boat when they saw that a large dogtooth snapper was following them and using their lights to gain advantage over the smaller fish. Surprisingly intelligent, these fish understand that the smaller fish are distracted by divers and their lights, giving them the element of surprise. Almost 1m in length (2.5feet) and weighing more than 12kg (25lbs), this is a big fish. It had ambushed a blue tang and gripped it in its powerful jaws. Knowing that the smaller fish would escape if the snapper tried to adjust its grip, it used a rock on the bottom to smash the blue tang's head, stunning it long enough to turn it and begin swallowing it.

Animal behaviour is far more complex than we once thought, and as we begin to understand them more, we realize that many are far more intelligent than we understood them to be. Seeing an animal in its natural habitat is interesting enough, but seeing animals interact in this manner is even more exciting.

Scuba diving is an amazing sport that allows people to see things that many can only imagine or read about.