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Southern Pygmy Leatherjacket - Courtship behaviour
Female losing interest. View larger image.
Little is known about courtship behaviour of the Southern Pygmy Leatherjacket.
These images show a courtship interaction between two fish at a depth of 2m, Quarantine Beach, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales in November 2001.
The larger, more yellowish fish is a male. It is following the green female. At times it was flaring its fins to display bright purple margins and spots.
The white markings on both sexes are strongly contrasted during this courtship behaviour.
In the third shot the less intense white spots on the female indicates that she may be losing interest in the male.
View the fact sheet for this species.
Further reading
- Hutchins, J.B. Leatherjackets in Andrew, N. 1999. Under Southern Seas. The Ecology of Australia's Rocky Reefs. University of NSW Press Ltd, Sydney. Pp. 238.
