Dashed-line blenny

The dashedline blenny is a very small fish of rocky shores and tide pools in the tropical Western Pacific, in which males and females can be told apart by their markings.

It lives singly or in small schools, in very shallow water close to shore, usually in the top metre or so.

Males are the larger of the two and carry lengthwise rows of blue dashes along the body. Females top out at about 5cm and have a pale grey body covered in dark horizontal dashes, along with dark vertical markings.

It ranges from Taiwan down through Indonesia to Efate in Vanuatu.

Combtooth blennies are the largest family of blennies, found in tropical and subtropical waters and also in fresh water. As the name suggests, their jaws are lined with comb-like teeth, which are well suited to scraping food off hard surfaces.