Sex on the Reef. Part 24 of my DVD, "Reef Life of the Andaman", available at //www.bubblevision.com/marine-life-DVD.htm

In this video we look at how some marine species breed underwater.

First we look at broadcast spawning, whereby marine animals release sperm or eggs, collectively known as "gametes", into the water. Large amounts of spawn are released to maximise the chances of successful fertilisation in the open water.

We see a Graeffe's sea cucumber, Pearsonothuria graeffei, broadcast spawning at Racha Yai near Phuket in Thailand, as well as a pizza anemone, Cryptodendrum adhaesivum, and a cock's comb oyster, Lopha cristagalli, in Burma's Mergui Archipelago.

Pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, are one of the most intelligent marine creatures. They copulate face to face, using their ten tentacles to embrace. The male cuttlefish passes spermatophores into a pouch beneath the female's mouth. He may first use a jet of water to flush out the spermatophores of any previous mates. Scuba divers may approach closely while the couple are engrossed in mating. After copulation the female cuttlefish passes her eggs over the sperm and into a crevice in the rocks. The male is extremely protective over the female and aggressively fends off other male suitors.

Finally, at Shark Cave, we see a male bigfin reef squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana, escorting a female as she deposits her eggs in the coral reef.

The full narration is available as English, German or Spanish subtitles by turning on the closed captions (CC). There are also closed captions available showing scientific and common names of the marine life in English, German or Dutch, along with dive site names.

"Reef Life of the Andaman" is being serialised weekly on YouTube. Please subscribe to my channel to receive notifications of new episodes as I release them. The series features descriptions of 213 different marine species including more than 100 tropical fish, along with sharks, rays, moray eels, crabs, lobsters, shrimps, sea slugs, cuttlefish, squid, octopus, turtles, sea snakes, starfish, sea cucumbers, corals, worms etc..

I have more scuba diving videos and underwater footage on my website at:
//www.bubblevision.com

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The video was shot by Nick Hope with a Sony VX2000 DV camera in a Gates housing. It was edited in Sony Vegas Pro then deinterlaced with QTGMC and upscaled to 720p HD in AviSynth.

Thanks to Absorb Fish (//www.soundcloud.com/absorb-fish) for the music track, "Bird's Song (Edit)".

Thanks to Santana Diving of Phuket (//www.santanaphuket.com), to Elfi and Uli Erfort and Daniel Bruehwiler for help with the German translation, and to Frank Nelissen for the Dutch subtitles.

Full list of marine life and dive sites featured in this video:

00:00 Graeffe's Sea Cucumber, Pearsonothuria graeffei, Koh Ha
00:11 Graeffe's Sea Cucumber, Pearsonothuria graeffei, Staghorn Reef, Racha Yai
00:31 Pizza Anemone, Cryptodendrum adhaesivum, Moving Wall
00:47 Cock's Comb Oyster, Lopha cristagalli, North Twin Plateau
00:58 Oyster, King Cruiser
01:05 Oyster, Moving Wall
01:10 Oyster, King Cruiser
01:15 Oyster, Moving Wall
01:25 Pharaoh Cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, Black Rock
01:42 Pharaoh Cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, Shark Cave
01:57 Pharaoh Cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, Black Rock
02:10 Pharaoh Cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, Shark Cave
02:18 Pharaoh Cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, Richelieu Rock
02:54 Pharaoh Cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, Shark Cave
03:20 Bigfin Reef Squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana, Shark Cave
03:42 Day Octopus, Octopus cyanea, Western Rocky Island