The Barramundi, its Remora, and a Green Moray - interaction on Warner Ber Warner Dive February 1, 2023

I decided to make a separate diving blog entry on, what to me, was the amazing behavior of a Barramundi during our dive at Warner Ber Warner on our last day of diving on a 17 day diving trip on Raja Laut. Usually Barramundi are quite shy, they frequently hide in the shadows of the reef and usually move on if you get close enough to take their picture. This Barramundi behaved very differently, he was out in the open and kept circling in the same area. I finally realized that it was being pestered by a small, maybe 8 inch Remora. Then I realized the Barramundi kept circling back to a patch of soft coral where there was a Green Moray. The Barramundi kept putting whichever side the Remora was on up against the hole with the moray, he clearly was hoping the moray would take the Remora! The same idea as fish going to cleaner wrasse stations to get their parasites picked off! Below, a Barramundi, out in the sunny open, hanging out on one patch of reef.

Here's the Green Moray living under a patch of soft coral which you'll be seeing in pictures to come. If I shot video it would have been much easier to show the behavior...

On the next three photos, if you look closely, you can see the small Remora. In the first picture below the Remora is down near the Barramundi's belly, about 6 inches behind his pectoral fin.

You can see the Remora in various positions on the Barramundi in the next four shots. The Barramundi is putting his side up against the hole with the Green Moray under the soft coral:

In the shots below the Barramundi has reversed direction in order to put the Remora in front of the Moray. The second shot is zoomed in on the first so that you can just make out the Green Moray in its hole.

Did the Barramundi succeed in ridding itself of the Remora via the cruel jaws of the Green Moray? I'll never know, I had to head for the surface after the last shot above....It was really cool to see this behavior and I was amazed!