Back in 1995, divers at the bottom near about. Amamioshima in the East China Sea of Japan discovered amazing symmetrical figures in the form of a circle with straight rays radiating from the center at regular intervals. In subsequent years, similar formations were found in other places on the Japanese coast. For a long time, scientists found it difficult to comment on this phenomenon: the hypotheses diverged and were based on the result of the actions of either a living organism or a natural phenomenon. And the divers quickly called the unusual figures at the bottom magic circles.
After 18 years, the mysterious creators of the circles were able to calculate: they turned out to be small 12-centimeter fish of the Tetraodontidae puffer family. Information on the habits of these fish was published in Scientific Reports by the curator of the Museum of Natural History in Chibo Prefecture (Japan) Hiroshi Kawase.
It turned out that the fish “draw” a circle of surprisingly regular shape and up to 2 meters in diameter at the bottom, quickly moving their fins along the sandy bottom. Scientists observed the "engineer" fish for two seasons and found that it takes 7-9 days for the fish to build one circle. With the help of fins, the small inhabitants of the sea first create an outer ring, then move from the edge to the center, creating radial grooves in the amount of 24 to 32 pieces, repeating at a certain frequency. The meaning of fish "engineering" circular construction is simple: males created it as a nest for females. The fish-"lady" sailed towards the very end of the work. The male raised grains of sand from the bottom, swam to the chosen one. The females examined the creation for a couple of minutes, removed and then returned again. If the female liked the nest, she laid eggs in the central part of the circle,which the male then fertilized. These are the creative feats of male fish.
