Trumpetfish in Cozumel

A long thin tube of a fish with a tiny trumpet-shaped mouth at the end. Colour varies from brown to grey to bright yellow, and can change.

Quick ID

Where You Will See It In Cozumel

Trumpetfish works the 6 to 82 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 Coral Princess, El Islote and El Mirador — all shore entries, so you dive them on your own schedule.

On an ordinary beginner boat dive. It should be within reach at Casa Blanca, Chankanaab Bolones, Columbia Shallows, El Cielo and La Francesa. No advanced certification needed.

Deeper, and on the walls. It is also plausible on Los Atolones, Maracaibo, Palancar Bricks and Palancar Caves.

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

Hunts by stealth: hangs vertically to mimic a sea rod, or shadows a larger grazing fish and uses it as cover to get within striking distance of small prey. Then it expands its mouth and inhales.

Commonly Confused With

• Cornetfish — Cornetfish are even thinner, more silvery, and have a long trailing filament off the tail.
• Sea rods — That is exactly the point — a vertical trumpetfish is meant to read as a gorgonian.

Diving Etiquette And Safety

Nothing required.

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

Photo: Nick Hobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.