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  • This male Laiphognathus multimaculatus Spotty Blenny is looking out from his home in the coral reef during breeding season. He is searching for females that are ready to spawn. Normally dull and drab in color, this male had donned a bright yellow, blue and orange pattern for this purpose. When a female approaches, he performs an elaborate, somewhat comical dance to entice her.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is a male spotty goby (Laiphognathus multimaculatus) sending one of his babies into the world. Females of this species deposit eggs into the burrows of males, which fertilize and care for the developing young. When juveniles are mature, the males take the young fish into their mouths, dart out of their burrows and spit the babies into the water, sometimes one at a time, sometimes several at once. The action is rapid, the direction and timing of launching babies unpredictable. When the males send the babies out like this, their bodies usually lose the bright coloration of breeding season, becoming relatively drab, though not quite as dull as normal.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • Pictured here is a pair of spotty blennies (Laiphognathus multimaculatus) engaged in spawning. When a female has finished depositing eggs, as pictured here, the male wants her to leave immediately. He hovers, prods, even strikes the female to force her out. He then takes responsibility for the eggs, but also continues to court other females in order to spawn again.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is a male spotty goby (Laiphognathus multimaculatus) darting out from his burrow in order to send one of his babies into the water. The juvenile fish's eyes are visible inside the adult's mouth. Males of this species care for developing young. When the juveniles are ready, males collect them in their mouths, swim out at high speed and spit the fry into the water.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is what a male spotty goby (Laiphognathus multimaculatus) looks like during spawning. The female is inside the burrow depositing eggs. The male had lowered himself partially into the burrow to fertilize the eggs. The male's fins flare and his movements are agitated during this process.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • Normally pale in color, this male Laiphognathus multimaculatus Spotty Blenny is displaying the bright colors and patterns used to court females during breeding season. Adopting this characteristic yellow, blue and orange pattern, males perform a dance in front of their burrows. Interested females enter the burrow to deposit eggs.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is a male red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) hatching the clutch of eggs that he has been watching over for a period of about five days. Hatching occurs in the evening, with the male stimulating the eggs with his fins and mouth to provide the cue to the juveniles.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a male red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) watching over a clutch of eggs that are nearly ready to hatch. During spawning, males of this species select and prepare burrows like this, often abandoned homes of Dendropoma maximum snails. When a male is able to attract a female, she deposit eggs while the male remains nearby in another burrow. He visits periodically to fertilize deposited eggs. The pair repeats this process until the female is done and departs.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) poking its head out of its home in the coral, with two coral hermit crabs (Paguritta sp.) visible in the background. The blenny's home is the abandoned burrow of a vermetid gastropod, Dendropoma maximum.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a small bicolor blenny (Ecsenius bicolor) peeking out from a hole in the coral reef.
    ecsenius-bicolor-blenny-coral-japan-...tif
  • This is a pair of red-spotted blennies (Blenniella chrysospilos) engaged in spawning. The white individual in the foreground is female. She has deposited eggs in the male's burrow. The male in the background was waiting in a nearby burrow and is now rushing back to fertilize the eggs. His dark color is indicative of courtship, which is no longer necessary once spawning commences. But there was another female nearby that he was trying to attract, even as he was spawning with this female.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • Normally pale in color, this male Laiphognathus multimaculatus Spotty Blenny is displaying the characteristic yellow, blue and orange colors and patterns used to court females during breeding season. When an interested female comes close, he will perform a dance in front of his burrow to entice her to deposit eggs inside.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is a male spotty goby (Laiphognathus multimaculatus) sending babies into the world. Females of this species deposit eggs into the burrows of males, which fertilize and care for the developing young. When juveniles are mature, the males take the young fish into their mouths, dart out of their burrows and spit the babies into the water, sometimes one at a time, sometimes several at once. The action is rapid, the direction and timing of launching babies unpredictable. When the males send the babies out like this, their bodies usually lose the bright coloration of breeding season, becoming relatively drab, though not quite as dull as normal.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is a male red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) hatching the clutch of eggs that he has been watching over for a period of about five days. Hatching occurs in the evening, with the male stimulating the eggs with his fins and mouth to provide the cue to the juveniles.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) peeking out from its well-hidden home in the coral reef.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This a male spotty goby's (Laiphognathus multimaculatus) normal drab appearance, without the brilliant yellow, blue and orange colors associated with courtship and spawning. This dull appearance and pattern help the fish to blend into the reef when it leaves its burrow to look for food, as pictured here.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is a male Laiphognathus multimaculatus Spotty Blenny displaying bright yellow, orange and blue colors and patterns used to court females during breeding season. Males perform a dance in front of their burrows. Interested females enter the burrow to deposit eggs.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is a top-down view from the dorsal side of a male spotty blenny (Laiphognathus multimaculatus). This male was looking out from his burrow in the early morning, searching for females to court during the breeding season. From this perspective, the fish's ability to control each eye in an independent manner is apparent.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is the moment when a male spotty goby (Laiphognathus multimaculatus) sent one of his babies into the world. Females of this species deposit eggs into the burrows of males, which fertilize and care for the developing young. When juveniles are mature, the males take the young fish into their mouths, dart out of their burrows and spit the babies into the water, sometimes one at a time, sometimes several at once. The action is rapid, the direction and timing of launching babies unpredictable. Such behavior is perhaps necessary to minimize predation. This male was about 4cm in length.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is a male Salarias luctuosus combtooth blenny, a species that is found in shallow waters throughout a limited range in Japan, from Wakayama prefecture down through the Ryukyu islands. This male is displaying breeding coloration. It was competing with another male to attract the attention of a nearby female.
    salarias-luctuosus-combtooth-blenny-...tif
  • This is a red-streaked blenny (Cirripectes stigmaticus) perched on a favored lookout point.
    cirripectes-stigmaticus-red-streaked...tif
  • This is a red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) peeking out from its home coral reef, which is an abandoned burrow of a Dendropoma maximum snail.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a striped blenny (Ecsenius lineatus) opening its mouth for a split-second. Photographed in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
    ecsenius-lineatus-striped-blenny-ope...tif
  • Pictured here is a pair of spotty blennies (Laiphognathus multimaculatus) engaged in spawning. Poking out from the burrow is the female. She has just deposited eggs inside. The male then lowers himself into the burrow to fertilize the eggs. This process repeats several times, after which the female departs abruptly. The male is tasked with caring for the eggs and launching them into the world when they are ready.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • Pictured here is a pair of red-spotted blennies (Blenniella chrysospilos). The dark male was actually fertilizing eggs in the burrow beneath him. There was already a female in the burrow. While that female was depositing eggs, the male maintained this dark courtship coloration and displayed for the female seen here. The male was successful in getting the attention of this female, as evidenced by her visit to his burrow, but he was unable to accommodate her at the time documented here. It is possible that this female returned later, once the other female had finished depositing eggs.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) peeking out from its home, which is an abandoned burrow of a Dendropoma maximum snail. This individual is a male watching over a clutch of eggs that are almost ready to hatch.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a male sabretooth blenny (Petroscirtes breviceps) peeking out from the inside of a hollow log that it was using as a home. The sparkling gold-yellow dots lining the wall are developing eggs. Males of this species are responsible for caring for eggs until they hatch.
    petroscirtes-breviceps-blenny-protec...tif
  • This is a male red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) watching over a clutch of eggs that are nearly ready to hatch.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a male red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) watching over a clutch of eggs that are nearly ready to hatch.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a male red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) fertilizing eggs. The female is in the burrow beneath him and has deposited eggs. Once the male finishes, he goes to another hole and waits for the female to deposit more eggs before coming back to fertilize again. After repeating this process multiple times, the female departs and leaves the male to care for the developing young.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • Pictured here is a pair of red-spotted blennies (Blenniella chrysospilos) that have just finished spawning. After attracting the female (foreground) to his burrow, the male moves to another hole while the female deposits eggs. He visits multiple times to fertilize while she does this. This is the spit-second just before the female departs and the male takes over to brood the eggs. The male's dark hue is breeding coloration.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a banded blenny (Mimoblennius atrocinctus) that had just darted out of its home at lightning speed to grab a meal, which appears to be molted cirri (legs) of a barnacle or similar animal.
    mimoblennius-atrocinctus-blenny-eati...tif
  • These spotty blennies (Laiphognathus multimaculatus) have just finished spawning. The female has emerged from the male's burrow after depositing all of her eggs. At this juncture, the male was attempting to kick the female out by hovering, prodding and even hitting her. The sooner he could force her to depart, the sooner the male could court other females and spawn again.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • Normally pale in color, this male Laiphognathus multimaculatus Spotty Blenny is displaying the bright colors and patterns used to court females during breeding season. Adopting this characteristic yellow, blue and orange pattern, males perform a dance in front of their burrows. Interested females enter the burrow to deposit eggs.
    laiphognathus-multimaculatus-spotty-...tif
  • This is a male red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) hatching the clutch of eggs that he has been watching over for a period of about five days. Hatching occurs in the evening, with the male stimulating the eggs with his fins and mouth to provide the cue to the juveniles.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
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