Please ID this fish
- Thread starter Jr'sReef
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Definitely a Blenny. Most likely from Salarias or Atrosalarius genera. To me it most closely resembles a Starry Blenny.
Trying to remember exactly what a Molly Miller looks like ... he's also somewhat reminiscent (including that iridescent spot at the top of his dorsal) of the eyelash or feather blennies we have here on the East Coast of the U.S. I don't know their full range, but they do well in some harbors in Connecticut.
~Bruce
~Bruce
You might be right on it being Atlantic, Bruce. I went through all my blenny books (which focus on tropical pacific species) but didn't see anything I was completely sold on. I suppose it's worth noting too, how highly variable patterning can be on some blennies. Typically Molly Miller's are much lighter (almost like a feather blenny/lawnmower blenny) but, the blue dorsal spot is present and I have seen a few darker ones. This would be a particularly dark variant of it.
What do you think on maybe A. fuscus? I've seen them occasionally with the spotting, but it's usually not so regimented. I don't remember if they have the dorsal spot.
What do you think on maybe A. fuscus? I've seen them occasionally with the spotting, but it's usually not so regimented. I don't remember if they have the dorsal spot.
It's funny to note that the colors seen in the photo are more visible in photographs then in person. And I never noticed the blue spot till now in that photo. In person it looks really dark but with slight markings that aren't as pronounced as in the photo.
I kept looking around and saw "filamentous blenny" which seems very close to it but havent seen one where I get the "ahah, that's it"
I kept looking around and saw "filamentous blenny" which seems very close to it but havent seen one where I get the "ahah, that's it"
If it looks predominately dark in person, check out Atrosalarias fuscus.
If I remember correctly, Cirripectes filamentosus has a long dorsal "spike" and typically displays some degree of red coloration. Have you noticed a long spike shape on the front part of the dorsal fin?
That blue spot is iridescent - like the feathers of a hummingbird, it only looks blue when the light hits it at the right angle.
@Labridaedicted, A. fuscus (sailfin blenny) isn't doing it for me. To my eye, it's looking more like something in the Hypsoblennius genus.
Blennies ain't easy - they've mostly all got cirri, and they're mostly all a cryptic brown . . . (>__<)
~Bruce
Chasmodes
Well-Known Member
In my humble opinion, when looking at the cirri, head shape, eye position, fins (including the blue spot on the fin), etc., my guess is the seaweed blenny, Parablennius marmoreus.
http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/thefishes/species/4083
Their colors vary greatly depending on their environment. In particular, check out the photos on this page, all of the same fish. To me, your fish resembles the color phase in the first row, third picture, and the fourth row, third picture, and perhaps a muted version of the color phase in the third row, 2nd picture.
http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/gallery/specie/4083
Question to help comfirm, where did you get the blenny or where was it caught?
Awesome fish!!!!
http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/thefishes/species/4083
Their colors vary greatly depending on their environment. In particular, check out the photos on this page, all of the same fish. To me, your fish resembles the color phase in the first row, third picture, and the fourth row, third picture, and perhaps a muted version of the color phase in the third row, 2nd picture.
http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/caribbean/en/gallery/specie/4083
Question to help comfirm, where did you get the blenny or where was it caught?
Awesome fish!!!!
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