Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Alexander Mustard (United Kingdom)

Shy hamlet romance

While diving in Grand Cayman, Alexander spent many evenings watching hamlets spawning. Like a lot of reef fish, they mate at dusk. Of the 10 species in the Caribbean, the one Alexander really hoped to see was the shy hamlet. Finally, he came across this pair. Floating motionless so as not to disturb their natural behaviour, he watched them. Here the two embrace as the female (head down) starts to produce eggs for the male to fertilise. Hamlets are among the few higher animals that are hermaphrodites, and within a couple of minutes, the pair had swapped sexual roles, and the spawning caresses started again. Over about 20 minutes, they exchanged sexual roles six times.

Nikon D100 with Sigma 28-70mm lens; 1/180 sec at f16; 200 ISO; Subal underwater housing; Subtronic underwater flash.