Icthyology - Tumblr Posts

Barely an exaggeration

(Image ID: A drawing of several deepsea fish. On the right is "most deepsea fish". They are all ghastly and uncanny in some way. The category includes the mirrorbelly, a vertical schooling of cutlassfish, the pelican eel, the silver spinyfin, and the stoplight loosejaw. On the left is the "the deepest deepsea fish", which only has one fish. This is a type of snailfish: a very cute, puppylike scaleless fish that is the deepest recorded fish in the world. End ID)

It’s the sea-son of love! When’s a better time than now to learn about fish courtship behavior?

🔸Behold! The bright and beautiful garibaldi! 🔶

Garibaldi courtship includes lots of nest cleaning and gardening by the male to lure a mate, perfectly pruning the perfect patch of algae to prove his potential for parenthood. When a female garibaldi signals her interest by swimming towards the nest with all her fins upright, the male tries to entice her by swimming in loops.

Their dance doesn’t last long though—as soon as the female lays her eggs, the male garibaldi chases her away before fertilizing them. In fact, much of the work of raising eggs is handled by the male. 

And since the garibaldi is also the state marine fish of California, that of-fish-ially makes them our valentine! 🧡