They can be contrasted with pelagic fish which live and feed away from the bottom in the open water column.
These pelagic fish are named for their slim, ribbon-like appearance.
As pelagic fish, all these fish spend most of their time living in the water column away the sea floor.
The deep water off to the side of the reef offers opportunities to see bigger pelagic fish.
Of this total, about 45 percent were pelagic fish.
They are pelagic fishes, found in the middle and depths of most oceans.
As a result, small pelagic fish usually aggregate together in schools for protection.
They are usually pelagic fish such as tuna and sardines.
All of these pelagic fish have suffered from overfishing in the last two decades.
It is an important prey species for large pelagic fishes and sharks.