Trumpetfish

On virtually every dive, we see trumpetfish.  They are voracious predators, and often try to sneak up on unsuspecting prey by hiding behind herbivorous fish that pose no threat to the prey.  They are long, thin fish, with a very long (trumpet-like) snout.  They frequently hide in rope sponges and soft corals.  They often drift in a head-down, tail-up position. They are really interesting fish to watch, and they are able to change color (sometimes just the snout is another color).  Their colors range from reddish brown to blue-black, to yellow, or blue, with lots of variations in between.

They can grow up to 3 feet long, but the ones in the photos below were between 1.5 and 2 feet long.  These photos were taken at depths of 25 to 45 feet.