You cannot resist the comical grin of a tiny blenny, gleefully looking at you while it peers back with its big round eyes from its little hole on the reef. Blennies are incredibly cute, and most make wonderful macro subjects since they’re very colorful, strictly territorial and quite “expressive”, at least in close-up shots. They belong to a very large Family – that of Blenniidae – which numbers more than 50 genera and over 300 species worldwide, so we’ll all be excused if we do not recognize them all while we’re on a dive – as blennies are very common and to be found almost anywhere. Look from them in surge zones, in five-inch deep water, in crashing waves, among coral rubble, on silty and mucky bottoms, in crystal-clear water on oceanic drop-offs, among discarded nets and old ropes and in empty tubeworm holes among glorious corals – well, you get the idea. Most feed on algae and invertebrates, but a few sport enlarged canines which they put to good use on unsuspecting prey which they approach mimicking cleaner wrasses. Some species even have venom glands going with those enlarged teeth, but these are strictly used for defence only. All have a slimy scaleless skin – very helpful when one has to squeeze inside an empty worm tube – and comb-like teeth which they use to efficiently scrape algae off corals. Being very territorial, most species are very easy to spot as they sit out in the open, perched on jutting heads of coral, surveying their little domain. But getting close to them – that, my friends, is a different story.

Aces in the Hole
Most blennies are just a few centimeters long, but some coastal, “mucky” species like the Leopard Blenny can get a little bit bigger, reaching about 14. The record goes to the rarely observed Snake Blenny Xiphasia setifer, which however with its 40 centimeters does not look like a blenny at all, reminding one more of a thin eel. They can be striped, spotted and a combination of the two, often with a split coloration – the head usually strongly contrasting with the rest of the body. If approached without due care they will invariably and rapidly swim to their shelter, entering it tailfirst and disappearing for a few seconds only to equally invariably peek out again to look with blatant disapproval at the intruder. This is the best time to photograph them if you’re looking for “emoting” shots and not for full body guidebook profiles: their bright eyes – often crowned by little branched antennae-like cirrhi – and their broad grinning mouths are a guarantee of success. Blennies are in fact much better subjects than the much more publicized Mandarinfish, as they are more compliant to the needs of the photographer and above all more expressive. They can be found absolutely everywhere, usually sitting on some sort of substrate and rarely swimming in open water, even in coastal harbor waters, jetty pylons and tidal pools. Next time you spot one take a good look at it and see for yourself – blennies are some of the most comical and underrated players on the reef stage!

Where and How
Blennies are commonly observed in shallow and very shallow water, even in surge zones a few inches deep. No need to go deep for them! Most species are very common all over the SE Asian Pacific, with larger and less colorful ones usually restricted to seagrass or mucky habitats and the smaller, more colorful ones limited to clear water on coastal and outer reefs. A few species have a very restricted distribution – like Ecsenius stigmatura, which is found only in Raja Ampat and in the Moluccas – but most can be encountered over an immense area going from the Red Sea to Micronesia.

What to Read
Two guidebooks you cannot do without if you’re serious about your blennies and really want to be surprised by their variety and numbers are Allen, Steene, Humann and De Loach’s Reef Fish Indentification – Tropical Pacific and of course our own A Diver’s Guide to Underwater Malaysia Macrolife. Both can be easily ordered from FiNS’s shop and should not be missing from a serious divers reference book collection.