Banggai Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni)
Male cardinalfish protect their young by keeping ~25 eggs (and later the hatched fry) inside of their mouths. The dedicated dads don’t eat for a good 4-5 weeks of brooding.
(Source: 6thmoon)
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I know there hasn’t been much posting lately - the truth is, I’m back in the States and trying to make my Bermuda research publication-ready. I’ll be back to a more regular posting schedule as soon as I turn this paper in on Friday.
Cheers!
Clown Triggerfish (Balistoides conspicillum)
To reproduce, these adorable fish dig a hole in the sand, lay eggs, and take turns guarding their nesting territory. Both the mom and dad will aggressively defend an inverted cone-shaped area above the eggs by chasing, biting, and generally attacking anything that swims too close.
girlfromarock asked: Hey I came across your blog and I love it. It's all the more interesting to me because I'm from Bermuda :)
Thank you! The Bermuda diving experience has been one of the best times of my life thus far - I’m here for 2 more weeks until my project time is up. The reefs are beautiful!
Aeolianites
Bermuda’s exposed land is composed primarily of wind-blown sand dunes that have since compacted into limestone. Intense glacial fluctuations during the Pleistocene caused high seas to flood the platform, creating an environment perfect for dune-building. There are outcrops all around the island that show beautiful examples of the depositional layers!