Well, it's getting there. The top of the rock on the right side is still my problem area. I'm much happier these days, though.
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Another busy night around here last night. First off, we have a long cleaner wrasse spawning video. I wanted to show you some of the courtship leading up to the actual spawning. The spawning ascent occurs right at the end of the video. Please note that they seem to be getting more used to the height of the water column as they don't break the water's surface. Hopefully that'll mean a better chance of fertilized eggs, if I ever manage to catch any.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jCq4_VspxA
Also up this evening were the filefish. Sorry about the quality of the video, it's just a webcam. Unfortunately, the actual spawning event happened mostly behind a rock tonight (you can still see some of the male's snout). But I wanted to show some of the important aspects of pre-spawning courtship behavior. So, you'll see the female pacing the tank, dorsal spine erect. She stops occasionally to nip at likely patches of algae ("thrust"). Their eggs are the green of algae, so they camouflage really well. You'll also see the male follow the female in her search for a likely spot, sometimes displaying with quick spreads of his caudal fin and other fins ("spread," if he combines with a headstand, "flutter dive"), sometimes nudging her abdomen with his snout, and sometimes nuzzling with his snout up under her snout and it looks like he vocalizes to her ("nuzzle"). After the spawn and after a short pause, the male's coloration changes and he engages in a whirling, crazy display with head stands, fin spreads, and flickering ventral flap ("flutter dive"). The male engages in flutter dives often during the day, but not usually with as much verve as after a spawn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhyBB7ggGkk
The quoted terminology in parentheses above come from:
Barlow, George W. 1987. "Spawning, eggs and larvae of the longnose filefish
Oxymonacanthus longirostris, a monogamous coralivore."
Environmental Biology of Fishes. Vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 183-194.
