SCUBA News 311
(ISSN 1476-8011)
June 2026

Welcome to June's SCUBA News. Whether you're just drying off your gear or already planning your next underwater adventure, we hope this issue brings a little inspiration for the months ahead. As well dive destination ideas, our Creature of the Month is the blue-spotted cornetfish - that placid predator that hunts with octopus, eats lionfish and has a remarkable ability to change colour.

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Dive Kenya: Reefs, Rays and Whale Sharks Kenya offers warm waters, vibrant reefs and abundant marine life: unforgettable encounters in the Indian Ocean. READ MORE Indonesia's top dive regions: How to choose where to go The challenge is not deciding whether to dive Indonesia; it is in choosing exactly where. Beginner? Love currents? Small creatures? Big pelagics? FIND OUT

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Bluespotted Cornetfish, Fistularia commersonii, is our creature of the month

As with many fish, the cornetfish has several different names. Whatever you call it, I am talking about the long, tubular fish you see hovering in the waters of the Red Sea, Sea of Cortez and Indo-Pacific. Recently, it has also been seen in the Mediterranean and the Eastern Central Pacific.

Bluespotted Cornetfish, also known as a smooth cornetfish, trumpetfish or flutemouth. Tim Nicholson

A Lionfish-Eating Hunter

A stalking predator, it is one of the few fish which eats the venomous lionfish, ambushing it from from behind. The unlikely-looking hunter also seeks opportunities to hunt alongside other species. For example, an octopus pursues prey into crevices whist the cornetfish floats in the water column waiting for fish to be flushed out. If it takes more than its fair share though, it runs the risk of being punched by the octopus.

Females are bigger than Males

Easily recognised, the cornet fish grows up to 160 cm (five feet) long. Females reach larger lengths and weights than males.

The tail fin has a long filament running off it which is lined with sensory pores which may act as a long-range system for detecting prey.

Can grow to lengths over five feet

Instead of scales the cornetfish has small spines embedded in its skin.

Their reproductive season lasts as long as the water is warm enough at 22^oC. In the north it is for six months over the summer, peaking in August. Juveniles often live in a seagrass nursery.

The fish may be solitary or in schools.

Small school of cornetfish. Francescodj/CC BY-NC 4.0 via iNaturalist

Depth-wise they are very wide-ranging, from 1 m to at least 132 m and possibly 296 m.

Cornetfish change colour

Normally F. commersonii is brownish to olive green on top and a lighter silvery colour below, with a pair of blue stripes or rows of dots along its back. However, it can change colours to show a disruptive pattern of dark bands to create false edges and decrease detectability. They can also lighten their colour when going over sand.

Cornetfish at Soma Bay, Red Sea. Louis P B/CC BY-NC 4.0 via iNaturalist

Next time you're on a dive with cornetfish, take a moment to watch their hunting and colour strategies.

Class: Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes) > Order: Syngnathiform (also pipefish and seahorses > Family: Fistulariidae > Genus: Fistularia

Sources and References

Lieske and Myers, A Natural Predator of the Lionfish, Pterois miles, Gilad Bernadsky and Denis Goulet, Copeia, Vol. 1991, No. 1 (Feb. 7, 1991), pp. 230-231

Bariche, M. et al (2013). Reproduction of the invasive bluespotted cornetfish Fistularia commersonii (Teleostei, Fistulariidae) in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Biology Research, 9(2), 169-180. https://doi.org/10.1080/17451000.2012.707322

Ascione, S. J. et al (2026). The state of knowledge on four families of Syngnathoidei fishes (Teleostei: Syngnathiformes): Aulostomidae, Centriscidae, Fistulariidae and Solenostomidae. Journal of Fish Biology, 1-50. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.70393

Castillo, M. A., et al (2022). Disruptive coloration and behavior facilitate camouflage of blue-spotted cornetfish against complex coral reef bottoms. Marine Ecology, 43, e12731. https://doi.org/10.1111/maec.12731

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Diving news from around the World

Study shows octopuses' impressive ability to navigate space The invertebrates can solve a spatial problem using a mirror, which is more than I can do.

The last-ditch plan to save coral reefs from utter destruction Bleaching has devastated reefs around the world. Yet new interventions have revealed that corals can be remarkably resilient if we can give them enough help to recover

Shark expert says Tony Abbott doesn't understand the science after former PM calls for cull Another expert says drone technology may have prevented shark attack at Coogee beach on Saturday. A cull of sharks would make no difference, as sharks know no boundaries.

Plastic food packaging blankets the world's coastlines, study finds Food and beverage plastics were the most common litter type for 93% of countries surveyed; the pattern was consistent across countries, regardless of waste management infrastructure.

Female dolphins remember who is aggressive when choosing a mate Female dolphins identify males by their unique calls and keep track of their past behaviour, choosing to avoid the most aggressive males during mating season.

Human activity can reshape dolphin social lives... Human-linked foraging and red tide events influence how dolphins associate with one another

...And those of reef fish When ocean acidification makes reef habitat less complex, the fish living there gather in smaller shoals that offer less social protection.

World's deepest banner protest launched at the bottom of the sea Deep below the ocean surface, at roughly the depth of 130 five-story buildings stacked end to end, a robot has unfurled a protest sign that reads: LISTEN TO THE SCIENCE!

Wind-assisted cargo ships could more than halve shipping emissions The shipping industry is responsible for around 3 per cent of CO2 emissions, and those emissions are growing - but adding high-tech sailing gear and using wind-favourable shipping routes could cut them by 50%.

Sesame sea slug species discovered in Taiwan Translucent, speckled and barely the size of a grain of rice, a new species of sea slug has been identified in the coastal waters of Keelung, Taiwan

From sesame seed to Sesame Street It's hairy, bright orange and exceptional at camouflaging. Meet the newly described hairy ghost pipefish species, demonstrating that even well-studied marine environments like the Great Barrier Reef still hold remarkable secrets.

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Photo credits: Tim Nicholson, Jill Studholme, Kelly Wong Johnson, Pete McGee/CC BY-NC 4.0, DepositPhotos, divebooker.com

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SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)

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