WHATSTHATFISH
Bony fish

Muzzled Blenny

Omobranchus punctatus

Also known as: Coral Blenny, Indo-Pacific Blenny, Japanese Blenny, Muzzled Oysterblenny, Spotted Oyster Blenny

LCLeast ConcernIUCN Red List, 2026
Adult
@dalovells · LUNA ROCKS REEF CHRISTMAS ISLAND, Australia · December 20231 / 1
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Overview

Found in shallow waters, amongst mangroves and rocks, and in tide-pools over brackish waters of coastal reefs.

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

Behaviour
territorial

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Habitat & where to find it

  • Range · Indo-Pacific, Western Atlantic, Mediterranean
  • Country only · 1
LIVES IN

Found in shallow waters, amongst mangroves and rocks, and in tide-pools over brackish waters of coastal reefs.

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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. genusOmobranchus
    7. speciesOmobranchus punctatus (Valenciennes, 1836)

    SourcesWoRMS

    06

    More in the family

    Combtooth Blennies (Blenniidae)