fishmagnt's Favorites
Kuvat / Äänet
Mitä
Suku NesogobiusHavainnoija
dentrockKuvaus
I photographed several spawning pairs of Nesogobius sp 1 on 7, 15 and 17 December. I could only find one pair on the 17th, so I guess that was the finish of the N sp 1 season.
Mostly they were laying eggs in small depressions in the sand.
The first pic also shows eggs attached to an empty cockle shell.
The second pic shows one of the females actively covering her eggs. Other females just deposited their eggs in the sand, without apparently trying to cover them up further.
The third pic shows eggs visible in the female's egg tube and on the sand, if you look closely.
The fourth pic shows a male fertilising the eggs.
The last pic shows one of the solitary males displaying, perhaps to warn off other males or attract a female? These guys never seemed to harass the spawning pairs.
Another behaviour one for you Mark?
Next goal is to see if can find and photograph the N pulchellus spawning. These also occur at St Leonards. At the moment, there are very few N pulchellus about, and they are tiny (<20mm).
Kuvat / Äänet
Mitä
Suku NesogobiusHavainnoija
dentrockKuvaus
This is a male Nesogobius sp 1 facing off against the goatfish U vlamingii.
What I couldn't show was the Nesogobius actually attacking the goatfish, and eventually driving it off. I have not seen such a small goby attacking a large fish. It reminded me of magpies and peewees driving off an eagle.
There were several spawning pairs of Nesogobius in the vicinity (see next obs) and several solitary males displaying intermittently.
One for your behaviour collection, Mark?
Kuvat / Äänet
Mitä
Pingalla midgleyiHavainnoija
nlitjensKuvaus
A school of Midgley's grunters photographed in natural habitat in the NT, Australia
Kuvat / Äänet
Mitä
Gadopsis bispinosaHavainnoija
nlitjensKuvaus
Twospined river blackfish photographed in habitat in the Kiewa River, Victoria, Australia
Kuvat / Äänet
Mitä
Gadopsis marmorataHavainnoija
drelodiecamprasseKuvaus
Ewens Ponds night dive
IDing the fish in the middle
Kuvat / Äänet
Havainnoija
davemmdaveKuvaus
Very small demersal fish caught by hand net at the Lady Bay Road Reef Watch site at low tide. Pictured in small plastic container full of seawater, above the juvenile sea cucumber,in first photo (See earlier submission).
2nd and remaining photos in the above sequence only show the pink and white belly and ventral surface of the fish, due it's already moribund state (See below),but I include them as they show that the fish has rather frilly margins around the head and mouth, which would aid cryptism when in its natural habitat,perhaps sandy bottomed tide pools rather than ledges etc for which the pale base color would be less suitable.
I think the fish is either a juvenile goby or less likely a type of Clingfish (?juvenile or adult, unsure if so).
Unfortunately it may have been killed by my accidentally including a tiny jellyfish in the container for the brief time spent photographing each critter. Returned to the water in an almost moribund state despite having been kept cool and in shade.
Kuvat / Äänet
Havainnoija
davemmdaveKuvaus
Courtship behaviour ,only 2 adults involved,shallow tide pool with mainly sandy bottom and low rocky edges.
I've considered whether this might be 2 males vying for an unseen female's attention,but I favour courtship between opposite genders,partly because I would've expected to see a nearby female in the clear sunlit shallow calm pool,and partly because there are differences in morphology and markings between the two in the above images.I suspect the one with the most colourful fins and pale blue belly is the male but I don't know that.
[NB: Soon after joining iNat I posted an observation of that one fish with blue belly using 2 photos.Both taken on same snorkel ,date and site identical. Neither photo included a 2nd fish. For that reason I feel this current submission is not a mere duplicate.It includes a 2nd fish(probably Female),and shows behaviour not seen in the original submission.]
