I dropped into the water this morning for a dip before work and found a couple of courting Pygmy Leatherjackets at Quiet Corner. I’d never seen this behaviour before. It caught my eye because I thought for a moment I was seeing the vivid blue of a cowfish tail but they don’t occur in this part of the bay. On closer inspection, the male was inflating a flap beneath its head. Like an anole lizard, it was erecting its dorsal spine, fanning its tail and thrusting this ventral flap forward, revealing lines of iridescent dots.
Usually Pygmy Leatherjackets are quite plain in colour. I’ve never seen them in such finery before.
The male was clearly preoccupied with flirting. The female meanwhile was meandering among the vegetation. At one point she stopped head up and paused. I wondered if she was laying eggs and he was perhaps fertilising them. Though I could not see any obvious signs of material in the water.
For the rest of the time, he chased her across the sargassum beds, nipping at her flank and tail. They eventually settled around this small patch of weed and he displayed again, allowing me to get some video and photos.
