A fish swims beside a ray in stirred-up sand
A ray’s digging can send small animals out into the open, within reach of a waiting fish. © 2026 dive.explo360.fr — Content protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Dinner under the sand

Some small animals hide in the sand. When a ray digs for food, it can send them scurrying. A fish swimming nearby might snap one up.

Look at the edge of the sandy cloud. Can you spot an animal making a dash for it?

Diagram of prey emerging as a ray digs
First the prey is hidden, then the ray moves the sand. A follower gets its chance if an animal breaks cover. © 2026 dive.explo360.fr — Content protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Off Malta, divers filmed a fish called a blue runner following two kinds of ray. In the videos it sometimes swims under a bull ray’s fin. It can also swim just above a common stingray’s back.

A fish that sticks close

Blue runner under a fin and above a ray’s back
Two positions filmed off Malta: under a bull ray’s fin and close to a common stingray’s back. © 2026 dive.explo360.fr — Content protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

What are those whiskers for?

A goatfish has two little feelers under its chin. They’re called barbels and help it find food in the sand. When the goatfish digs, nearby fish get a chance to grab anything that wriggles free.

A shake of the head

On a Red Sea reef, a grouper can shake its head to get a moray eel to come hunting. The eel slips into cracks. The grouper stays out in the open, ready for a fish to dart past.

A moray by a reef crevice and a grouper in open water
A moray can search the crack. A grouper can catch a fish that darts out. © 2026 dive.explo360.fr — Content protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Imagine looking down on the reef. If you were a little fish in that crack, would you stay inside or dart out into open water?

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