In yesterday’s post I showed some coral heads full of mainly juvenile Chromis viridis, and I mentioned how hard they were to shoot.  In this series of images I was lucky enough to have a macro lens fitted to my camera and I was able to observe some interesting behavior, which I have assumed to be spawning; am I correct?

The three fish were repeatedly passing along the sides of the sponge, for all the world appearing to deposit eggs and/or fertilize already-laid eggs, but I can’t see any signs of eggs at all.

A quick look online (at a very well-known electronic encyclopedia page) suggests Chromis viridis females deposit eggs in depressions in sand, created by the male, but is this entirely accurate?

At least one source references that the fish will lay eggs on an aquarium wall if no suitable location is available; perhaps this is the case here, and the fish have simply chosen this atypical location?  Further online searching and a few interesting YouTube videos show fish clearly using rockwork as a nesting site and I did find a reference, that was repeated on several write-ups, to them using a piece of sponge.

So, for me the jury is mostly back from their deliberations, if this behavior isn’t spawning, it could be the fish going through the preparatory motions and eggs will follow?  As you can tell I’m more familiar with photographing these fish than the intimate details of their courtship.  I’d very much welcome comments from anyone who can shed any light on what the fish are doing.