Liparis tanakae Snailfish Courtship

This is a pair of Liparis tanakae snailfish pictured moments prior to spawning. The male on the right has his fins flared and in pointing at his clusters of eggs to direct the female's attention. The female inspects and either spawns or moves on. In this location, there is no natural substrate for spawning, so the fish use ropes, nets and other discarded fishing gear. Once spawning takes place, the male protects the eggs until he dies. Another male then takes his place, meaning that the eggs in any given spawning location can represent many males. This species lives in deep water, generally in the 50m to 120m range. Photographed in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.

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Copyright: Copyright Tony Wu. All rights reserved. No duplication, reproduction or usage without prior written permission.
Image Size: 6907x4605 / 185.1MB; https://www.photoshelter.com/support/license#rm; https://www.tony-wu.com/contact-tony-wu; Bony Fish Snailfish Animalia Chordata Osteichthyes Teleostei Perciformes Liparidae Liparis tanakae Tanaka's Snailfish Kusauo Reproduction Courtship Spawning Pacific Japan Yamaguchi Prefecture
Contained in galleries: Marine Life Reproduction, Fish Photos, Marine Life | Japan

This is a pair of Liparis tanakae snailfish pictured moments prior to spawning. The male on the right has his fins flared and in pointing at his clusters of eggs to direct the female's attention. The female inspects and either spawns or moves on. In this location, there is no natural substrate for spawning, so the fish use ropes, nets and other discarded fishing gear. Once spawning takes place, the male protects the eggs until he dies. Another male then takes his place, meaning that the eggs in any given spawning location can represent many males. This species lives in deep water, generally in the 50m to 120m range. Photographed in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan.