Emiko’s Observation of the Week

For those of you who missed it, I'll direct your attention to Emiko Kawamoto’s recent iNaturalist Observation of the Week. A member of the Australasian Fishes Project since December 2019, Emiko took some terrific photos of a mouthbrooding male Eastern Gobbleguts, Vincentia novaehollandiae. In the story Emiko talked about her diving ‘style’ and how it helps her to observe the small things.

In another of her observations, Emiko uploaded six wonderful photos of a pair of Eastern Gobbleguts spawning. She asked why half the egg mass was white and half orange. I didn’t know the answer to this question, so put it to my colleagues at the Australian Museum. Dr Doug Hoese sent me a paper (Vagelli, 2019) that had the answer for a different species of cardinalfish. Quoting from the paper, Vagelli stated, "The egg clutch of Quinca mirifica consisted of two distinct, but jointed sections, i.e., a smaller part composed of a compact white mass of small non-functional oocytes and a larger part composed of the bright orange mature ova".

Congratulations Emiko for scoring iNaturalist’s Observation of the Week, for asking your question (many of us have learned from it) and for your ongoing contribution to the Australasian Fishes Project. 😊

Reference

Vagelli, 2019. The Reproductive Biology and Embryology of Quinca mirifica, an Apogonid with Direct Development That Produces Non-Functional Oocytes. Copeia 107, 1:36-60.