FishOccasionalVisible while snorkeling

Golden trevally

Gnathanodon speciosus

As a juvenile it escorts bigger animals like a golden pilot fish – as an adult it hunts over the sand like a silver flash.

Photo: iNaturalist – (c) Kirby Morejohn, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Kirby Morejohn

The golden trevally (Gnathanodon speciosus) can show you two very different faces. Juveniles are brilliant gold with black bars – they are the little "pilot fish" that swim ahead of sharks, rays and sometimes even divers, sheltering in the shadow of a big body. Adults turn silvery with scattered black blotches, the gold lingering only on their fins.

Its special trick: adults have no teeth. With fleshy, accordion-like protrusible jaws it literally vacuums crabs, worms and small fish out of the sand. Hunting parties sweep the sandy plateaus in small schools, sometimes standing head-down as they root through the bottom.

Around Hurghada it appears on sites with sandy lagoons: look for the silvery packs cruising over the sand flats of Gota Abu Ramada and Abu Hashish. The golden juveniles are most often seen escorting a big ray or the occasional shark – a pairing underwater photographers adore.

Did you know?

Juvenile golden trevallies don't only pilot for sharks: in aquaria they have been seen escorting giant groupers and even sea turtles – all that matters is a big body whose shadow feels safe.

Where can you meet it?

On sandy-bottom sites: it shows up most often in the Gota Abu Ramada lagoon, on the sand flats of Abu Hashish and around Dolphin House.

Frequently asked questions

It is seeking protection: predators cannot reach it next to a big body, and it also snacks on food the big animal stirs up. The host loses nothing – the classic pilot-fish lifestyle.

Yes – in shallow sandy lagoons such as around Dolphin House you can bump into hunting schools over the sand with just a snorkel.