Stinkfish Spawning
The water is warm and the Stinkfish are hot.
In January 2018, Henrick Michael took this terrific image of two Painted Stinkfish spawning at Maroubra, southern Sydney.
In addition to four still images, Henrick also managed to capture some fantastic video footage of this behaviour.
Henrick stated that "they rise to the surface, release their gametes, then lightning fast go back to the sea floor. I saw this occur 4 times ".
Three months earlier, Henrick recorded an observation of two male Painted Stinkfish sparring.
Older records of Painted Stinkfish spawning include the 2009 observation made by Sascha Schulz.
The Painted Stinkfish is endemic to Australia. It occurs in sub-tropical and temperate marine waters from the southern Queensland coast, around the south of the country to the central coast of Western Australia. It may potentially also occur in northern Queensland waters.