Put your face in the water almost anywhere in the Maldives and fish will be looking back at you. The Marine Research Centre's reference guide, Fishes of the Maldives, describes 370 species from Maldivian waters, from tiny gobies to the largest fish on Earth. Here are ten that visitors are most likely to meet, or to talk about, with the names Maldivians use for them.

1. Whale shark (fehurihi)

The largest living fish, rarely over 12 metres but possibly up to 21. Despite its size it is harmless: it filters plankton and small fish from the water, often close to the surface. The South Ari Atoll Marine Protected Area, along the atoll's southern rim between Rangali and Dhigurah, is the best-known place to snorkel with whale sharks, and sightings there are reported throughout the year. Whale sharks are a protected species in the Maldives: do not touch them, and keep your distance.

A blacktip reef shark with black-tipped fins swimming in blue water
A blacktip reef shark (falhu miyaru). - Photo: iNaturalist contributor / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

2. Blacktip reef shark (falhu miyaru)

The shark you are most likely to see, often from the beach or a jetty. It grows to about 1.8 metres, has clear black tips on its fins and patrols shallow lagoons and reef flats. The Marine Research Centre notes that snorkellers and beachwalkers see it more than any other shark. Shark fishing has been banned in the Maldives since 2010.

A whitetip reef shark swimming over a coral reef with small fish
A whitetip reef shark (olhufathi miyaru) over the reef. - Photo: Jan Derk / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

3. Whitetip reef shark (olhufathi miyaru)

One of the most common Maldivian sharks, with white tips on its dorsal fin and tail. By day it often rests on the bottom or under ledges, where divers find it; at night it hunts reef fish, octopus and crustaceans. It is usually around 1.6 metres long.

An orange Maldive anemonefish with one white band beside a sea anemone
A Maldive anemonefish (Dhivehi maagandumas) in its anemone. - Photo: Thomas Badstuebner / MDC SeaMarc Maldives / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

4. Maldive anemonefish (Dhivehi maagandumas)

The Maldives' own "Nemo": orange, with a single white band behind the eye and black fins underneath. It grows to only 9 cm and always lives with large sea anemones on reef edges, defending them boldly against much bigger fish. Outside the Maldives it is recorded only from Sri Lanka, where it is rare, and the Lakshadweep islands. Look, but never touch the anemone.

A Moorish idol with white, yellow and black bands and a long dorsal fin above coral
A Moorish idol (dhidha mas) on the reef. - Photo: Philippe Bourjon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

5. Moorish idol (dhidha mas)

Instantly recognisable by its white, yellow and black bands and a long trailing fin, the Moorish idol is the only species in its family. It lives on reefs from the shallows down to 180 metres and is easy to spot while snorkelling a house reef.

A large blue-green Napoleon wrasse with a bulging forehead swimming near a reef
A Napoleon or humphead wrasse (maa hulhunbu landaa), a protected species. - Photo: Stan Shebs / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

6. Napoleon wrasse (maa hulhunbu landaa)

The giant of the wrasse family, up to 2.3 metres, with a bulging forehead, thick lips and fine maze-like lines on its blue-green head. It prefers the deeper parts of reefs, to 60 metres, and eats shellfish and sea urchins. It is a protected species in the Maldives, and its export has been banned since 1995.

An oriental sweetlips with black and white stripes and yellow fins beside coral
An oriental sweetlips (kandu guruva). - Photo: desertnaturalist / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

7. Oriental sweetlips (kandu guruva)

The most commonly seen sweetlips on Maldivian reefs: black and white stripes, yellow fins and full lips. Adults often gather in small groups under overhangs and are not shy of divers, while the spotty juveniles hide among branching coral.

A large yellow and dark titan triggerfish swimming over coral
A titan triggerfish (maarondu). - Photo: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

8. Titan triggerfish (maarondu)

A big, handsome triggerfish of up to 75 cm, common from lagoons to deep reef slopes. Treat it with respect: when nesting on sand or rubble it defends its eggs fiercely and will chase away any intruder, divers and snorkellers included. If one rises towards you, swim away sideways, not upwards.

A striped Indian lionfish with long feathery fins in blue water
An Indian lionfish (fanhaamas). Its fin spines are venomous. - Photo: Tara Kate Turkington / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

9. Indian lionfish (fanhaamas)

Slow, striped and spectacular, with long feathery fins. It grows to about 35 cm and lives near the bottom to around 60 metres, often under ledges. Its fin spines are venomous, so admire it without getting close.

Hands holding a freshly caught skipjack tuna with dark stripes on its belly
A skipjack tuna (kalhubilamas), the Maldives' main catch. - Photo: cotterh / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

10. Skipjack tuna (kalhubilamas)

The fish that built the Maldives. Skipjack is the country's most important catch, about two thirds of all recorded fish landed, and it is caught almost entirely by the traditional live-bait pole-and-line method, a fishery more than a thousand years old. The Maldives pole-and-line skipjack fishery was the first Indian Ocean tuna fishery to gain Marine Stewardship Council certification, in 2012. You will meet it at the Malé fish market, on a fishing trip, or at breakfast in mas huni.

Good to know

  • Never touch, feed or chase marine life, and don't stand on coral.

  • Whale sharks, Napoleon wrasse and all rays are protected species in the Maldives. Capturing, keeping, selling or harming them is illegal.

  • More species from Fishes of the Maldives will appear in our new Fish of the Maldives section, one or two each week.

Sources: Fishes of the Maldives, Marine Research Centre (2003); Environmental Protection Agency; Marine Stewardship Council.