418 Dive Log Australasia JUNE 2026.pdf

jaw, specially adapted for mouth brooding eggs. These females were preventing me from getting a clear shot. I was observing a group of fish cooperating to ensure the safety of their progeny. They were collectively guarding the brooding male, presumably prepared to sacrifice their lives to protect him! On a night dive, my dive guide John became very excited. He urged me to photograph a small Cardinal fish. I took a fleeting photo and was about to move on. John made it very clear that I had to look again. I was surprised to see that it was a male with eggs in its mouth. I photographed the eggs and again was about to move on. John was gesticulating very excitedly again. So I went back to the Cardinal fish again. I could not believe it! The eggs in its mouth were actually hatching into baby fish. I would have missed this very rare event twice over except for the persistence of my excellent dive guide. I did feel a little silly! Then I settled in to coordinate a photograph of the eggs being expelled from its mouth and hatching larval fish. I managed to do this. Next, the large leftovers of the egg mass was expelled

and it was all over in a few seconds. My buddy on this dive was Godlife, an excellent local underwater photographer. He said he had been waiting for this opportunity for many years Once in a blue moon sighting of a male Cardinal fish hatching live babies

Mating Chamberlain’s Nembrotha

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Dive Log Australasia #418 June ’26

www.divelog.net.au