The Editor says: I still remember the emotion of witnessing coral spawning for the first time — what had been a lifeless underwater world suddenly burst into a flurry of activity. This time, we follow Okinawa photographer Shota Ishino for an up-close look at the arc-eye hawkfish's journey from courtship to spawning. What does it take to capture the perfect shot? Read on to find out! Full article reprinted from: メガネゴンベのラブシーンはキュン死に必至！一瞬の産卵を捉えるまで。
June marks the peak of Okinawa's rainy season. The humidity weighs heavily in the air, and skin stays perpetually damp and never quite dries out. At this time of year, southerly winds blow in and the waters around Onna Village are at their calmest.
After Golden Week (GW) — Japan's spring consecutive holidays — ends, the water temperature around Okinawa's main island begins rising rapidly, spurring fish reproduction into high gear. Beyond spawning itself, you can also observe various species engaged in brood care and hatching. As a result, the sea is teeming with juvenile fish in every direction during this period, and night diving becomes especially exciting. From late May into early June, the spectacle of coral spawning unfolds in full, delivering live scenes so breathtaking you won't want to sleep!
In this season when you can slip into the water in light gear, the lure of a dramatic night dive after sunset is simply irresistible. And so, as dusk fell that evening, I headed into the sea alone.
Episode Three of Twilight Heart-Flutters: The Arc-eye Hawkfish
Welcome to the third installment of "Heart-Pounding Moments After Sunset." In the first episode, we covered the "chasing behavior" of the Japanese pygmy angelfish before spawning; in the second, we explored the courtship behavior of the shy multibar goatfish. That second article unexpectedly ranked seventh on Oceanana's most-read list for May. What I assumed would be a niche piece nobody would bother with somehow captured people's attention — a little embarrassing, but genuinely gratifying. I plan to keep introducing more spawning and breeding behaviors to bring joy to a wider audience. Though if I keep writing with this much excitement, some parents might say, "My kids can't read this (laughs)." So this time I'll dial it back a notch and present things in a slightly different style — introducing a piece that will leave viewers feeling warm inside: the reproductive behavior of the arc-eye hawkfish.
The arc-eye hawkfish (Paracirrhites arcatus) is widely distributed along the Pacific coast of southern Japan. Its Japanese common name derives from the distinctive pattern around its eyes, but what catches the eye even more is the bold "bow tie" marking at its throat. I firmly believe that anyone who witnesses arc-eye hawkfish spawning will feel a surge of emotion deep in their heart.
Arc-eye hawkfish mainly inhabit branching stony corals. At night, two or more individuals often gather on the same coral head, but during the day each fish claims its own perch. You'll frequently spot them sitting perfectly still on the coral, looking somewhat blank and dazed. Once the sun dips below the horizon and the brief twilight descends, that is when their breeding begins.
Heart-Racing Moves
As the sun tilts westward, the male perches on his coral and starts peering over at the female living on the adjacent coral head. The female notices and responds by rising up on her coral, squaring off to face him and holding his gaze.
After a brief standoff, the male rushes over to the coral where the female resides. If she is ready to receive him, the two begin repositioning themselves to draw closer together, and the moment of spawning draws near.
Witnessing this moment already sets the heart racing — but what follows is even more stirring. The male and female begin moving in perfect coordination with each other, as though timing their rhythms together. Watching from the sideline is genuinely moving: the pair alternately press and release with their pelvic fins, undulating their bodies up and down like a fish version of push-ups.
It is as if they are counting "one, two, three — go!" and "one, two, three — follow!" together, the two fish rising and falling in unison. At first their movements are a little out of sync, but as time passes, their rhythm gradually falls into place. Then, in a single fleeting instant, the arc-eye hawkfish spawn at a speed that defies the eye. Their method is to ascend together and release simultaneously, producing "pelagic eggs" that drift freely in the water. The whole thing happens so fast that one blink could mean missing the spawn entirely, leaving you with nothing but the drifting eggs suspended in the water column.
Shooting the Spawn Is Like a High-Speed Buzzer-Beater Game
Given all of the above, there is one key tip for photographing arc-eye hawkfish spawning: trust your first instinct. To do that, you need the experience of observing spawning many times over, until you have internalized the exact timing of that split-second moment and how far the fish ascend.
Start by positioning yourself beside the coral where the two hawkfish are perching, observing from both the front and the side. Crucially, angle the camera roughly 45 degrees upward, keep it about 30 cm from the subject, and try to keep the pair visible at the edge of the frame. When focusing, pre-focus by imagining the fish ascending to the side, then patiently wait for the spawning moment to arrive.
Keep a quiet, attentive eye on the pair as they grow closer. Occasionally the male may make a false start and look as though he is about to dart upward — resist the temptation to fire the shutter, because a sudden strobe flash could startle the female. And under no circumstances should you reach out or otherwise disturb or agitate your subjects. Since the entire ascent lasts only an instant — sometimes too fast even for the autofocus to lock on — I failed multiple times before finally capturing the shot.
The Female's Effort and the Male's Delight
Through all those failures, I also made some discoveries from experience. As you can see in the photo above, the instant after the female releases her eggs, the male immediately turns and heads back to the coral. Because he moves so fast, I often ended up with shots of the male already back on the coral while only the female was still mid-spawn — a frustrating near-miss. After accumulating countless such frames, I set myself a new goal: "to capture the one instant when male and female are side by side, simultaneously releasing sperm and eggs." After many days of effort, that moment finally came.
Strictly speaking, this photograph is not quite the spawning instant itself — it is the moment just after the female has released her eggs, with the male releasing his sperm and already beginning to turn back. The true spawning instant should show both fish aligned side by side in the same direction. In other words, my reflexes still haven't been fast enough to capture the precise moment the male fertilizes the female's eggs. If any challengers out there manage to photograph that split second, please do share your shots widely.
I also managed to capture the female arc-eye hawkfish's expression, etched with the effort of releasing her eggs — a stark contrast to the male's beaming, satisfied look after the deed is done.
Within his territory, the male arc-eye hawkfish maintains multiple female partners simultaneously, so right after spawning he promptly heads off to the coral of another female. That kind of behavior makes him the underwater equivalent of a tabloid playboy — and just like that, the warmth and tenderness of the moment fades away.
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