OCEANS’ 11
Good Parenting
Marine life has many different approaches to producing young, from male
cardinalfish brooding eggs in their mouths to female sunfish (Mola mola)
producing up to 300 million eggs. Here, we show a small selection of the
many, varied “good parenting” approaches that take place in our seas
By GILL MCDONALD
1
DOTO USSI
This very cute
nudibranch, Doto ussi,
lives and feeds on
the stinging hydroid
Aglaophenia cupressina,
a branch of which is
seen in the picture. It
lays its eggs in a tight
spiral. This photo was
taken in the Lembeh
Strait with powerful
dioptres to magnify
the animal and eggs.
2
LEOPARD BLENNY
This beautiful blenny, with its shading
of creamy brown fading to fiery red and
covering of leopard spots, is incredibly
shy. The eggs are shaped like “Minions”
and are laid where this species lives, in
amongst strands of fire coral. This gives
them good protection. The blenny, which
is quite big at around 10 centimetres long,
constantly wriggles around, aerating the
eggs while they develop.
SDOP
60