In 1995, divers discovered a curious structure near the island of Amami Osima in Japan: at the seabed, they noticed a giant circle carved in the sand. However, no one knew where he came from: scientists could not understand whether the circle was created by man, animals or was the result of some kind of environmental process. As a result, these structures began to be called "

To reveal this secret, scientists went to the investigation. In 2011, they were the first to determine that behind these “mysterious circles” there is actually a small-gummer fish that can mysteriously create a structure 16 times more than itself, using the force that it can collect in its modest 12-centimeter. It is curious that the type of Torquigener albomaculosus was officially described only in 2015.

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Researchers note that they did not quite understand the scale of the marriage rituals of the needle -bolds until they united with divers to reveal the origin of the " Their creations speak for themselves, if you look from the air, but smaller details - and, in particular, small sand - make you realize how much work is required in order to achieve a partner for a male needle -bold.

During the study, two surveillance zones were installed on the sandy sea day of the beaches of Seisui and Laters. As a result, they managed to capture the reproductive practices of males from preparation to the care of caviar, which in total amounted to 10 reproductive events.

Each of the practices began with a created round structure on the seabed and occupied from 7 to 9 days. The needle -bolds used their chest, anal and tail fins, moving in a circle and adding lines. Scientists have found that the males moved inside, forming radially leveled peaks and hollows.

Surprisingly, they added even more subtle details, stopping from time to time clapping with fins, which meant that the depressions were not the same all the way. These cavities and peaks became clearer than they worked longer, and the way they swam, shake the sand, bringing the smallest particles to the center. The team also found that the males adorned the peaks of their circles with shells and fragments of corals, trying to remove everything that was in the center of this structure. Only when these recent changes were made, females began to attend their creations.

Further, scientists watched the courtship process: when the female was approaching the construction, the males swam around to shake small sand in the center. If the female entered, then he retreated before rushing again to her. If it was properly impressed and mating occurred, caviar was postponed in the central part of the circle, which now became a nest.

According to the authors of the study, the nest of Icatules demonstrated three unusual characteristics that have never been registered in fish:.

All three characteristics were completed and preserved until mating, when the females visited the nesting place, and after that they were destroyed.

" The behavior of the male and the form of his creation contribute to the movement of small particles of sand to the center of the circle, where, if he is lucky, the female will lay caviar. The meaning of this small sand, scientists say, can be the reason that they do not use the same nest twice. Researchers found that males can actually return to the same place, but they will not use the same structure twice.

Previously, Focus wrote that the “Fei circles” found in Australia put the scientists into a dead end: how they appeared.