Ocean Photographer of the Year - WildlifeOcean Photographer of the Year - Wildlife 

Winner Ocean Photographer of the Year – Wildlife

Takumi Oyama  

Takumi Oyama is a Japanese researcher studying the reproductive ecology of fish through scuba diving-based fieldwork. Oyama’s recent Ph.D. was focused on the behavioural ecology of reef fish in Japan. Underwater photography is an integral part of his research and a way to communicate the complexity and beauty of marine life to a broader audience.

Location: Kagoshima, Japan  

Equipment: Sony RX-100M5A, Sony MPK-URX100A housing, INON UCL-90 M67 lens, INON LF1100h-EWf light, INON S-2000 strobe  

Settings: 1/250, f/11, ISO 80  

Image size: 143.5 x 143.5cm

Wall text

A female yellow pygmy goby releases newly hatched larvae into the water column from her mouth. “This photo shows the larval dispersal behaviour observed during the hatching of the yellow pigmy goby,” says Oyama. “In gobiid fishes, male parental care is common, but unusually, in the yellow pigmy goby, females also participate in parental hatching care.”  

This photograph was taken whilst scuba diving in the evening. The water was nearly 28 degrees and Oyama was working on a research project at the time and says it took over 40 hours to get this image.

Description

These little fish grow to around 3cm in length and make small hollows their home. The mouth of a glass bottle, completely overgrown with light-brown algae and plant matter angles upwards   into the image from the bottom left. The bottle’s opening has a hairy, cluttered texture, spilling out thickly below the little fish.  

Headfirst out of the opening, protrudes a bright yellow pygmy gobby. She is in profile, against the black water. Along her gently curved back are two ridged and see-through yellow fins. Towards the front is shorter and shell shaped, the other is wider and straighter , its length disappearing into the bottle neck behind her.  

Along her side, organs show through her delicate, yellow skin, a patch of spheres clustered together overlap with other light and dark red shapes. At the side of her head, a pectoral fin is in motion, splayed and sweeping forward. On top of her head is a vibrant, yellow eye, its black pupil  rimmed in white and at the tip of her blunt face, her mouth is open.  

Floating in the inky water a short distance from her lips is a scattering of approximately 15 of her babies. She is over 100 times their size. Each one is a perfectly formed, clear little body with a spine and a silver eyes. They twist and curl in a little group, water separating them from each other. Two swim horizontally, facing the pygmy gobby.  

There is a touch panel to accompany this image, if you are standing at the floor tile for this image, it is located on your right, on the peripheral wall just a few meters away.  

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