WHATSTHATFISH
Bony fish

Butterfly Blenny

Blennius ocellaris

Also known as: Coral Blenny, Reef Blenny, Rock Blenny, Rockskippery, Rockskipper

LCLeast ConcernIUCN Red List, 2026
Adult
@SailingBenH · ES, Spain · November 20191 / 1
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Overview

Found singly, or in pairs, over hard mud and rocky bottoms, in shallow, to very deep reefs, more active at night.
Widespread South East Atlantic, Black Sea, Mediterranean

Combtooth Blennies are the largest family of blennies, found in both tropical and subtropical waters and freshwater habitats, as the name suggests they have comb like teeth lining their jaws, well suited for scraping food off hard surfaces!
Reef and rock blennies are usually territorial and have their own areas of rock pools which they skip and jump over, scraping algae from the surface of dead corals. Some male Blennies have small harems of arguing females.
Males and females often have different colouring and features.

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How to identify

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Habitat & where to find it

  • Range · Southeast Atlantic, Mediterranean, Black Sea
  • Exact location · 1
LIVES IN

Found singly, or in pairs, over hard mud and rocky bottoms, in shallow, to very deep reefs, more active at night.

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Adult photos 1

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Discussion

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    ALL STAGES
    FOR THE MARINE-BIOLOGY CURIOUS

    Deep dive

    Taxonomy

    1. kingdomAnimalia
    2. phylumChordata
    3. classTeleostei
    4. orderBlenniiformes
    5. familyBlenniidae
    6. genusBlennius
    7. speciesBlennius ocellaris Linnaeus, 1758

    SourcesWoRMSFishBase

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    More in the family

    Combtooth Blennies (Blenniidae)