Indian Blenny?

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Joined
Jan 8, 2006
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21
Location
Adelaide
I have a slightly problematic fish in my reef tank, which was sold to me as an Indian Blenny. I've never seen another one, & can't find anything under that name on the internet. Is this a recognised fish, or a case of mis-identification? I've had him for at least a year, & at first he was completely docile, but as he has grown considerably (now the size & thickness of a finger) & has become more aggressive that I imagined a blenny would be... he nips at the other fish, sometimes diving upwards to attempt to bite them from the ground. He has also terrorised 3 bi-colour blennies to death, I love those but I won't be getting another until the Indian has gone,

Description : about 5 or 6 cm's long, something like the size of a finger, & fat too, not as thin as most blennies. Light brown in colour with darker stripes on his back. Extremely round face, with red-rimmed eyes. Rounded mouth which he aggressively attacks the sides of the tank with where there is algae, & has recently started doing the same with large fish (like tangs).

Basically I'd just like to know what he is, & if he's a particularly problematic or aggressive fish in other people's experience.

Thanks :)
 
I will try to get a pic if I can...

Is a tiger striped goby the same as a zebra dartfish? I have one of those, but he is much more peaceful than this fella.
 
Sounds like a fang blenny to me then. I'm guessing that's bad, & needs to be removed? I haven't seen him do TOO much damage other than attacking bi-colour blennies & attempting to bite tangs, but I have had fish go down mysteriously in the night... If this is the likely cause then I want him gone
 
The problem is similarities in fish behavior. Although not conspecies, the bicolor and the "indian" look very much the same and have similar behavioral patterns(?). The biggest concern to another fish is food competition/territory. If they can bully a neighbour they will. If this is a fang blenny, it will continue to be a problem with similarly sized/shaped fish. I find it very odd though that it attacks the tangs.

Do you have a digital camera?

Cheers
Steve
 
I do have a digital camera, tried to get a picture today but they're all pretty blurry. I'll try to get a good one & post the best I can get.

I find it very odd though that it attacks the tangs.

I found it odd too, to say the least!

He mostly works by stealth, he seems to act innocent when I'm watching him, but just in the last week I've seen him lunge at my sailfin tang & rabbit, & while cleaning the tank someone else told me he had a run-in with the yellow tang. All much larger fish than he is.
 
It's a rockskipper/algae blenny of some type, just not sure which. Istiblennius sp. seems to be the closest although it's hard to determine since none of the images depict visible finnage. Istiblennius edentulus :?:

http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/identification/specieslist.cfm?famcode=392&areacode=

In any event, even without a 100% possitive ID I find it very odd this fish is aggressive to anything in the tank. More commonly they'll turn tail at their own shadow. You may just have gotten an odd duck.

Cheers
Steve
 
Thanks Steve, it's reassuring to know that it isn't a dangerous/aggressive species. I'll keep my eye on him to see if he clashes with anyone else, it could be just because he moves around constantly that he occasionally collides with another fish!
 
Update :

A lot has changed in the meantime, but I still have this blenny, & my affection for him has grown to the point where he is now one of my favourite fish. Whether he mellowed with age I don't know, but he doesn't even clash with the bi-colour blenny anymore.

Awhile back he jumped over into the overflow & I could have removed him then, but I didn't want to - how times change!
 

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