Male pufferfish will create underwater 'crop circles' to attract mates. Documented by photographer Yoji Ookata.

pufferfish will create underwater 'crop circles' to attract mates; Documented by photographer Yoji Ookata.

Puffer Fish Mating Rituals.

The white-spotted pufferfish (Torquigener albomaculosus) is known for its unique and complex courtship display which involves creating large, geometric circles in the sand. These circles are constructed in an effort to attract females for copulation. Males must maintain their circles in order to attract a mate. A female will evaluate the structure and choose to mate with the males after evaluation and completion of other mating behaviors.

📸: Yoji Ookata

Mysterious Underwater ‘Crop Circles’

Mysterious Underwater ‘Crop Circles’

Planet earth is so strange, what lies keep underwater on earth has yet to be seen by human eyes. The discovery of amazing little puffer fish capable of creating elaborately designed ‘crop circles’ at the bottom of the ocean as part of an elaborate mating ritual. The behavior was first documented by a photographer Yoji Ookata as articles bounced around the web it was still difficult to imagine how…

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A strange and wonderful world..

The oceans hold many secrets, with only 5% of them thought to have been explored. Year on year, as a result of tireless work and unwavered interest, marine biologists, divers and underwater photographers shed some light on the mysteries of the deep.

One such person is Yoji Ookata; a photographer who has spent the last 50 years exploring the coast of Japan.On a dive off the southern coast of the country, Yoji stumbled upon this amazing spectacle; wondrous geometric sand patterns, some 6 feet in diameter.

Curious, he used a video camera to investigate what caused these structures. It was a tiny puffer fish. The fish, who is only a few centimetres in length, artistically carves these creations using only a single fin. It was discovered that these were not simply an act of artistic demonstration, but rather served several ecological purposes. The most important purpose lies in attracting a mate. The male fish create these platforms to attract a female and it seems that the success of the pairing is correlated to the amount of ridges in the structure. If the female fish decides to stick around, their eggs are then laid at the centre of the circle. The ridges and grooves then offer protection to the vulnerable offspring against the ebb and flow of ocean currents.

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Images from Yoji Ookata

Mysterious Underwater ‘Crop Circles’ Discovered Off the Coast of Japan

Mysterious Underwater ‘Crop Circles’ Discovered Off the Coast of Japan

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration less than five percent of the world’s oceans have been explored, meaning that 95% of what lies deep underwater on Earth has yet to be seen by human eyes.

One person who has dedicated his life to uncovering the mysteries of the deep is Japanese photographer Yoji Ookata who obtained his scuba license at the age of 21 and has since…

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Puffer Fish Creates This Blue Water Art  ~: }   

Published on Apr 3, 2017

"This video is for educational purposes" !Quick example of the beauty we can find in those BBC-Earth new documentaries.   The amazing little puffer fish capable of creating elaborately designed 'crop circles' at the bottom of the ocean as part of an elaborate mating ritual. The behavior was first documented by a photographer named Yoji Ookata who later returned with a film crew from the Japanese nature show NHK which later aired an episode about the fish. Even as articles bounced around the web it was still difficult to imagine how a tiny fish could create such a large design in the sand, even when staring directly at photographic evidence. Finally, video has emerged that shows just how the little guy delicately traverses the sand in a rotating criss-cross pattern to create a sort of subaquatic spirograph. The textured sand sculpture not only attracts mates but also serves as protection when the fish pair and lays eggs.

BBC-Earth , Life Story Ep05

- Courtship - Puffer Fish (From Netflix)  

Can you believe that?

Can you believe that?

Yoji Ookata, a deep-sea photographer and diver who has been documenting the deep sea for more than 50 years, discovered an amazing circular pattern of rippling sand about 80 feet below sea level and 6 feet in diameter on the ocean floor. Baffled by the design he decided to capture by TV camera the designer behind the sculpture. To his surprise, he found that a single puffer fish, no more than few…

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Amazing Little Puffer Fish Creates Ocean Floor ‘Crop Circles’