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The balloonfish, a type of porcupinefish, can inflate its body as a defense against predators. Once inflated, the spines that cover its body stand upright making it too big and spiny to swallow.

Here you see a balloonfish with spines flat against its body, swimming through a "snowstorm" of coral spawn at night. (0:33)

Credit: FGBNMS/Hickerson

Fish of the Flower Garden and Stetson Banks

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The fish species found at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary are a subset of those you would find elsewhere in the Caribbean. Although there are fewer species of fish represented in the sanctuary, it is still a balanced and healthy ecosystem.

This video provides a sampling of various species seen in the sanctuary:

Schooling jacks; a resting queen parrotfish; a juvenile jack hovering close to a coral head; a barracuda swimming a couple of feet above the bottom; a honeycomb cowfish; a large grouper; a yellowhead jawfish hovering above its den in the sand; two seaweed blennies in a standoff on top of a sponge; a seaweed blenny tucked down in the hole of a sponge; a golden smooth trunkfish swimming just above the bottom; a smooth trunkfish spitting streams of water at the bottom to uncover food; a scrawled filefish swimming nose down near the reef; a marbled grouper swimming in place just above the reef with a scrawled filefish on either side; a yellowmouth grouper staring directly at the camera; a tiger grouper swimming over the reef; a creole wrasse resting under a ledge; and, a small tiger grouper and a queen parrotfish tucked into a crevice in the reef. (2:23)

Credit: FGBNMS/Hickerson, Schmahl, DeBose

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Winter Visitors to Stetson Bank - Drop Camera View

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This footage was obtained by placing a camera on the pinnacles at Stetson Bank in February 2001. The drop camera system is used to monitor fish populations without the interference of divers being present. The camera is placed on the seafloor to continuously film for at least an hour.

This video is a compilation of clips from one hour of filming:

A sailfin blenny bravely displays his sail in hopes of attractng a mate, but quickly retreats into a nearby hole as larger fish approach.

Large schools of Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, cero, blue runners, and bonita swim in the open waters above. Intermingled in the dense fish parade are scalloped hammerhead sharks, sandbar sharks, and other carcharhinid sharks, as well as large amberjack.

In the foreground, reef-dwelling fish such as smooth trunkfish, french angelfish, scamp (a type of grouper), and blue angelfish, stay close to the sea floor. (1:41)

Credit: NOAA Fisheries-Pascagoula