131. Yellow-Edged Moray Eel (Gymnothorax flavimarginatus) is getting cleaned

Subject:

A Yellow-Edged Moray Eel (Gymnothorax flavimarginatus) is getting cleaned by two White-Banded Cleaner Shrimps (Lusmata amboinensis) and a juvenile Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse (Labroides dimidiatus).

These Indo-Pacific morays are very sensitive to the sounds emitted by injured or stressed fish (just like sharks).

They are also one of the few natural predators of the Lionfish.

Technique:

When examining the footage I noticed the mistake I made while filming; the camera’s focus setting was on ‘automatic’. Usually it’s a good idea to have this setting turned on but in this case, where several cardinalfish darted between the subject en my camera, it was clearly not. Every time a little fish swam in front of my lens the camera suddenly tried to focus on the spoilsports. As these fish moved quickly in and out the frame the camera never had the time to put them into focus. Yet they were present long enough to slightly blur the moray. When there are many items moving around and in front of your subject it is much better to put your camera’s focus setting on manual.

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