WHATSTHATFISH
Bony fish

Chestnut Eyelash Blenny

Cirripectes castaneus

Also known as: Coral Blenny, Eyelash Blenny, Filamentous Blenny, Muzzled Rockskipper, Reef Blenny, Rock Blenny, Rockskipper, Spotted-chin Blenny, Chestnut Blenny

LCLeast ConcernIUCN Red List, 2026
Adult
@fishx6 · Mirihi Island Resort, Maldives · May 20081 / 8
01

Overview

Found in small loose schools over wave swept weed covered rocky areas of outer reefs rich in red algae growth.

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

COLOURS
Pattern
stripes

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Habitat & where to find it

  • Range · Indo-West Pacific
  • Exact location · 1
  • Country only · 7
LIVES IN

Found in small loose schools over wave swept weed covered rocky areas of outer reefs rich in red algae growth.

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Adult photos 8

05

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. genusCirripectes
    7. speciesCirripectes castaneus (Valenciennes, 1836)

    SourcesWoRMSFishBase

    06

    More in the family

    Combtooth Blennies (Blenniidae)