Where to dive in South Australia to see blue devil fish
South Australia’s reefs are top spots to dive, and you can easily stumble upon our supermodel of a fish.
It’s blue, has personalised markings, can live up to 60 years and is popular with underwater photographers.
We’re talking about the striking southern blue devil fish.
It’s better the blue devil you know
Southern blue devils live around reefs and are common to SA’s waters, but can be found along Australia’s coast from southern Victoria through to Western Australia.
The fish like to stay close to home, which is usually a cave dwelling that’s more than 5 metres deep.
Spot the blue devil
During routine marine monitoring, our marine scientists became intrigued with the ease of telling blue devil fish apart by their iridescent spots. So they decided to give them celebrity names.
One blue devil fish couple were named after Rolling Stones rocker Mick Jagger and his former supermodel wife Jerry Hall. Mick and Jerry mated and Jerry laid a mass of sticky eggs on the roof of a cave nestled in the reef. Mick guarded the eggs until they hatched as tiny larvae only a few weeks later – that’s Jumpin' Jack Flash quick!
Dive with the devil in SA
You can spot the southern blue devil fish by diving at Encounter Marine Park’s Aldinga Reef and Second Valley, or Seacliff Reef.
Grab your scuba gear and get ready to fill your camera with lots of southern blue devil shots. This reef fish is slow moving, inquisitive and easy to approach, making it a fantastic supermodel – some even say better than Jerry Hall.
Feeling inspired to head out to your nearest marine park to uncover South Australia’s sea world? Here’s some of the other marine life you might see: cuttlefish, reef fish, octopuses and cute baby marine animals.
This story was originally posted in March 2017.
(Main image courtesy of Australian Museum)
