If you approach slowly and try to get below them, seaweed blennies appear to be comfortable checking you out
Although it may be hard to tell in this photo, you are looking at a fish that will only grow to about three inches. You can only see its head in this photo, which is the size of a pea. Seaweed blennies are a common sighting in Key Largo, where this photo was taken. These small fish are also found along the east coast of the United States, as far north as New York! Seaweed blennies can also be found in the Gulf of Mexico and as far south as Brazil.
Seaweed blennies are often perched on a rock or poking their head out of a hole, like in this photo. If you approach them too quickly, they will retreat into their hole. If you approach slowly and try to get below them, seaweed blennies appear to be comfortable checking you out. Once you get a chance to see these ornate fish close up, you will see why they are so cool. Seaweed blennies have a unique iridescent blue netting across their face. These blue lightning bolts are an easy way to identify this fish.
These tiny fish have excellent camouflage skills. Seaweed blennies can change their body color to blend into their background. If you look closely, you can see seaweed blennies have branching appendages coming off their face, one above each eye and one below each eye. These are called cirri, and their purpose is not clearly understood. They are speculated to be sensory organs or something that aids in camouflage.
Check out our Camouflage Gallery:
Seaweed blennies are a type of combtooth blenny. As the name implies, the seaweed blenny’s mouth is filled with ~40 comb-like teeth. Seaweed blennies mostly feed on algae. They also eat small worms, hydroids, and crustaceans.
Seaweed blennies can change their body color to blend into their background
Did you know?
- Male seaweed blennies may have several female partners that all lay their eggs in a communal nest. The males guard the nest until the eggs hatch.
- Seaweed blennies are diurnal, operating in the daytime.
- Divers use the cirri as a mean of identification, especially for blennies.
- Seaweed blennies prefer shallow to mid-range reefs. They tend to live in less than 80 feet of water.
- Seaweed blennies belong to the Blenniidae family. There are over 800 different species in the Blenniidae family!
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