Among all the fish reproduction, hamlets are one of the coolest ones to observe. Their ritual is like clock-work and is repeated… day in day out in the Tropical Western Atlantic (they only exist in this region). Hamlets (Hypoplectrus sp) are simultaneous hermaphrodites, ie. they have both male and female parts, so they participate in egg trading. The courtship begins around sunset and continues after sunset. The courting pair eventually rise up a little bit and do a sort of a ‘hand-clasping’ like action during which time they trade eggs. Then they part and clasp together over and over again reversing roles so each one gets a turn to deposit its eggs into the other.

Within the family there are a variety of species as well as hybrids but that gets to be a messy conversation that will have ichthyologists and biologists argue for a while so we won’t go there… My favorite species is the Barred Hamlet (Hypoplectrus puella) due to its beautiful colors and markings, thankfully they are not rare in Bonaire.