Pacific Trumpetfish: A Living Tube With a Trumpet Mouth

The trumpetfish is one of the reef's great oddities — a long, thin, tube-shaped fish that hangs motionless in the water, often head-down, then snaps up prey with its trumpet-like mouth. Here's how to spot one snorkeling near Jacó, plus five fun facts.

Pacific Trumpetfish · Aulostomus chinensis

How to spot the pacific trumpetfish near Jacó

Look for a long, stick-like fish hovering near sea fans, branching coral, or vertical rock. The trumpetfish often floats head-down, holding perfectly still to blend in with the background. Its skinny shape and that flared, trumpet-shaped snout make it unmistakable once you spot it among the reef.

5 fun facts about the pacific trumpetfish

• A trumpet for a mouth. Its long snout opens into a wide, trumpet-shaped mouth that expands suddenly to vacuum up small fish and shrimp in a flash.
• A sneak-attack specialist. It often hovers head-down and drifts slowly, blending with corals and sea fans so prey never sees it coming.
• It rides shotgun. Trumpetfish sometimes hide alongside a larger fish, using it as cover to sneak up on prey that ignores the bigger, harmless neighbor.
• A color-changer. It can shift between browns, greens, and yellow to match its surroundings or signal to other trumpetfish.
• Thin as a reed. Its long, narrow body lets it hang vertically among branching corals and look like just another stem swaying in the surge.

The pacific trumpetfish is just one of many characters down there. See the whole cast in our Snorkel Jaco fish directory, or read real guest photos and reviews on the Snorkel Jaco reviews.