yellowhead jawfish brooding eggs
While diving, if you ever pass over sandy to rubble bottom, don’t disregard. This area is the prime spot for the yellowhead jawfish. You would often see them hovering over their burrows looking like a small ghostly figure. These amazing fish built their burrows about a foot deep using their mouth. To ensure their burrows don’t cave in, these fish use shells, pebbles and coral rubbles and line them up at the entrance. At night, the jawfish uses a stone or shell to cover the opening of the burrow, to avoid being eaten by predators.
During the day, the yellowhead jawfish eat the zooplankton drifting with the current. The male courts the female by swimming with an arch and the fins extended. The spawning portion occurs in the male burrow. After spawning, the male holds the ball of fertilized eggs in its mouth. The male will take care of the eggs in his mouth and incubate it until they hatch. Some predators for the yellowhead jawfish is moray eels, lion fish, frogfish, triggerfish and scorpionfish.