nmonks
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Thought I'd share this, in case anyone knows what's going on...
One of my female halfbeaks has began doing the strangest thing for the last few evenings. She swims at a 30 degree angle above the horizontal, holds her mouth open, gill covers flared, and fins erect, doing some sort of display. At the same time, she turns a coppery orange over her body, and her fins become a very nice smoky orange colour. I believe that she is Nomorhamphus ebrardtii, even though she was in a batch of 'Celebes halfbeaks' picked up at a tropical fish store in London.
What makes things even odder is that she only does this when the lights in the room are out. If I turn the lights on, she stops. If I get close to the tank, she stops. She only does this thing when she's not being watched. So if we turn the lights out and go to the other side of the room, she'll start again.
When she isn't doing this thing, she schools with the other halfbeaks about as well as halfbeaks ever school, and she's otherwise fine, eating and swimming about happily. She only does this little routine at night, an hour or so before lights-out in fact, and she's been doing this thing regularly for the last few nights.
Anyway, I've uploaded a QuickTime movie of as much of the routine as I could capture, but as I say, as soon as the lights are on and I approach the glass, she stops. If anyone has any idea what's going on, I'd be pleased to hear!
Cheers,
Neale
http
/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/temp/ebrardtii01.MOV
And here's a pretty picture of this strange young lady, though the colours aren't as strong in this shot as they are for real.
One of my female halfbeaks has began doing the strangest thing for the last few evenings. She swims at a 30 degree angle above the horizontal, holds her mouth open, gill covers flared, and fins erect, doing some sort of display. At the same time, she turns a coppery orange over her body, and her fins become a very nice smoky orange colour. I believe that she is Nomorhamphus ebrardtii, even though she was in a batch of 'Celebes halfbeaks' picked up at a tropical fish store in London.
What makes things even odder is that she only does this when the lights in the room are out. If I turn the lights on, she stops. If I get close to the tank, she stops. She only does this thing when she's not being watched. So if we turn the lights out and go to the other side of the room, she'll start again.
When she isn't doing this thing, she schools with the other halfbeaks about as well as halfbeaks ever school, and she's otherwise fine, eating and swimming about happily. She only does this little routine at night, an hour or so before lights-out in fact, and she's been doing this thing regularly for the last few nights.
Anyway, I've uploaded a QuickTime movie of as much of the routine as I could capture, but as I say, as soon as the lights are on and I approach the glass, she stops. If anyone has any idea what's going on, I'd be pleased to hear!
Cheers,
Neale
http
/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/temp/ebrardtii01.MOVAnd here's a pretty picture of this strange young lady, though the colours aren't as strong in this shot as they are for real.
