The Night Shift
The sun clings briefly to the horizon and then disappears. The sky turns black and the reef comes alive. Crinoids, basket and feather stars spread their feathery arms and position themselves to feed on plankton. Sea Urchins shake themselves loose from the reef and go off to towards the lagoon for a night of grazing. The bugeyes of squirrel fishes, soldier fishes and bugeyes scads seek out motion rather than images. Millions of years ago when dinosaurs ruled the earth, these fishes lived on the reef and were probably active during the day then. As the dinosaurs died out, new species were emerging in the sea. Many of the new creatures evolved with excellent eyesight and better feeding mechanisms which made them better for competing for food on the reef. Scientists believe that the "modern fishes" eventually crowded out these primitive fish until they were confined to the night shift.