Comet (marine betta)

A comet, also sold to aquarium keepers as the marine betta, tucked under a coral ledge in Anilao, the Philippines, in August 2023. Look at the back half: the white-spotted fins and the ringed spot near the tail. When threatened, the comet pushes its head into a crevice and leaves that rear end showing. The spot reads as an eye and the gap between the fins as a mouth, so a predator peering in sees what looks like the head of a white-mouthed moray, a spotted eel no small hunter wants to provoke. Some guides still hedge on how deliberate the act is, but the resemblance is hard to miss.