This male Eastern Gobbleguts (Vincentia novaehollandiae) might look like the perfect husband. He will take full responsibility for his future newborns from the moment the female lays her large egg mass.

He will protect them from predators, he will regularly roll them about to keep them fresh and aerated and he will have you believe that for the entire incubation period he will abstain from eating.

The truth is that every now and then the gobbleguts does swallow and he may not be so hungry after all when it comes time for the babies to hatch.

Photo: Robert Rath, ‘Don’t Swallow’, 1/100s f/22 ISO400 100mm