VALENTINE'S DAY UNDER WATER

How do marine animals celebrate Valentine's Day?

Although it may now seem more of a consumerist moment than a real demonstration of love, February 14th is celebrated as Valentine's Day, or the lovers' holiday.

There are many theories and legends about the alleged origin of the lovers' holiday and the connection between them, Valentine's Day and February 14th. However, we deal with the sea and we do not want to go into the details of the origin of the holiday but we would like to talk better about its profound meaning, that is, Love.

Love under water takes on many shades, it doesn't necessarily have to be just about monogamy but we can also look at it from another point of view.

I like to think that even marine animals know how to love and show it to their partners, perhaps even in the sea there is platonic love, love forever, not for everyone but certainly everyone, males and females, have the pleasure and the need to attract individuals of the opposite sex and reproduce with them.

In the sea we encounter a variety of courtship techniques extremely developed and refined by evolution.

"Be amazed by these bizarre examples of …love?"

Living in a harem: the brown grouper

Brown groupers live in small harems with a dominant male and 7/8 females, the male during the summer months courts the females in a truly spectacular way!

These animals have the great gift of changing sex during their life so they are born females and when they reach a size of about 80 cm they change sex. In this way they experience both courting and being courted.

The male brown grouper, during the warmer months, courts the females very conspicuously: from its typical brown color with darker shades, it is able to change color and become silver, move quickly and conspicuously around the females, while still being noticed at all costs.

If this sounds exciting to you, you should witness the mating moment: we had the pleasant fortune of seeing two groupers mating right in the Mediterranean Sea, at the Portofino Marine Park during a twilight dive, in one of the most suggestive and beautiful spots of the park: the Gonzatti reef.

These two groupers in love danced together from a depth of about 15 m to the surface, we saw their bodies twisting with these silvery shades illuminated by the last rays of the sun and finally releasing into the water this white cloud of sperm and eggs ready to give life to a new tiny grouper, in the form of a planktonic larva! Back in the depths the two then separated.

Female dusky grouper, Portofino AMP, Italy.

Monogamy for Love or Convenience: Butterfly Fish

Butterfly fish are among the most famous fish for their strong emotional bonds. They are found in coral reefs all over the world, with their extraordinarily bright colors, females and males are completely identical, only in some species the male is slightly larger. These cute animals are often observed swimming in pairs like the masked butterfly fish or in large schools like the banner butterfly fish.

Is their bond monogamy?

Despite all the widespread polygamy in the animal world, butterfly fish can be defined as monogamous. These fish create a very stable bond with their partner for their entire life or at least for most of it, to reproduce and not only. In two it is easier to defend their territory and eat with more "serenity"; in fact while one eats, the other watches over the safety of both.

But this is not the most curious thing: these couples can also be homosexual in the younger specimens, which means that reproduction is not the priority of these animals but rather survival, at least for that moment!

Take a moment to observe them: the little fish are constantly looking for each other among the corals, they never move too far from their territory and it is not at all difficult to understand who is the relative partner, so…

Why shouldn't butterfly fish love each other?

“Probably! But love is eternal while it lasts: when the female dies, the male butterfly fish will not find another partner, but if the male dies, the female will find a new boyfriend instead!”

Banner butterflyfish on gorgonian in Nosy Be, Madagascar.

Short but intense mating: the octopus

The extraordinary intelligence of the octopus is also evident during courtship and even more so during mating. The male octopus has a special tentacle called hectocotylus that is used to transport and insert spermatophores (small boxes containing its spermatozoa) into the female's body. This tentacle is easily recognizable because it is not pointed like all the others but ends in a spoon shape. Their mating is certainly one of the most spectacular we have ever witnessed! The two octopuses, at the end of courtship, position themselves close together and completely outside their dens, which also makes them considerably vulnerable.

"After all, who has never done something crazy for love?"

During this delicate moment, the octopuses change color very noticeably: the females become completely white while the males become completely red with all the bumps of their skin well accentuated.

The male extends his special tentacle inside the female's body to release the spermatozoa and therefore allow the fertilization of the eggs.

Once this process is finished, the two super octopuses will separate. The female will then take care of the eggs until they hatch.

Octopus in its den, Maldives.

Love disguises: the cuttlefish

The champion species of courtship and cunning is undoubtedly the cuttlefish, amazing in its camouflage and transformations, it has certainly found one of the most subtle but effective ways to mate. The female varies her shades of color, going from mottled to gray, to signal to the male her availability for mating. The dominant males do not waste time and try to grab them immediately and mate with them.

“Okay, so far nothing to be surprised about, a beautiful love story.

Be careful though, genius belongs to second-rate males, if that’s what you can call them…”

Males, who certainly cannot compete with dominant males, are capable of camouflaging themselves by perfectly imitating female colorations, to avoid being "stepped" by other contenders who clearly mistake them for females. Once this delicate moment has passed, they can therefore get as close as possible to the females and mate, taking them by surprise.

Even in cuttlefish, males possess the hectocotylus, which they show during courtship to the chosen female, as an invitation to mate. If the female accepts, she remains in front of the male and the two animals will mate, intertwining their tentacles.

“This strategy is absolutely brilliant, but be careful! If a dominant male actually mistakes you for a female, then it’s your problem, you clever guy!”

The ultimate marine love: the seahorse

True eternal love is symbolized by the seahorse. Once a couple has met their partner, they stay together for life. Their quintessential romantic activity is the nuptial dance used for courtship and reproduction. In these dances, male and female cross their tails and snouts, even managing to change color, showing themselves ready for mating. One of the most extraordinary characteristics of this species is that the male, in addition to courting the female, will also have the task of carrying future offspring in her womb. In fact, during mating, the female inserts the eggs into the male's ventral pouch and will leave the task of giving birth to him.

“In short, a model boyfriend!”

Friendly Fins we have seen some examples of living love underwater but there is still so much to discover and above all to ask ourselves... Is our human reality so different from the marine one?! And after this.... Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!!!