Bermuda Chub in Cozumel

A plain silver oval that most divers swim past without logging. Chubs travel in loose groups in mid-water and are among the few Caribbean reef fish that eat mainly algae.

Quick ID

How To Identify It

Uniform silver-grey with a small mouth, a blunt head and faint bronze stripes along the body. The shape is a rounded oval — deeper-bodied than a jack, blunter than a snapper.

Where You Will See It In Cozumel

Bermuda Chub works the 6 to 98 foot band. On this island that means the sheltered west-coast reefs, and the shallow east-side entries when the sea is flat — these are the sites where the depth and the habitat line up for it.

Without a boat. It is worth looking for at Money Bar, Playa Corona and Punta Morena — all shore entries, so you dive them on your own schedule.

On an ordinary beginner boat dive. It should be within reach at San Clemente, Yellow House, Yucab, Casa Blanca and Chankanaab Bolones. No advanced certification needed.

Deeper, and on the walls. It is also plausible on Barracuda Reef, C-53 Wreck, Cantarel (Eagle Ray Wall) and Chun-Chacaab.

Conditions change the odds more than the site does — the current, the time of day and how much the group has already stirred up the sand. Ask your guide what they have been seeing that week.

Behaviour

Grazes algae from hard surfaces, supplemented with small invertebrates and plankton. Groups drift along the reef rather than holding station.

Chubs are inquisitive and will approach a diver, which makes them one of the easier large fish to photograph — and one of the reasons they are often mistaken for something rarer.

Commonly Confused With

• Yellow jack — More streamlined, forked tail, yellow tinge, and moves faster.
• Grey snapper — Pointed snout and visible canines; the chub's mouth is small and blunt.
• Permit or palometa — Much deeper-bodied with elongated fins.

Diving Etiquette And Safety

Keep fins off the reef and hands to yourself. Nothing here needs to be touched, moved or provoked to be seen well.

Part of the Cozumel marine life guide · see Cozumel dive sites · plan your Cozumel dive trip

Photo courtesy of the Cozumel Coral Reef Restoration Program, used with permission.