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One of the most popular aquarium fish are Blennies. They are peaceful, colorful, and many are helpful. For example, the aptly named Lawnmower Blenny will keep your green algae well trimmed and presentable. With the exception of Fang Blennies, they are totally reef safe- in fact a reef environment is best for them because they can be shy and the intricate rockwork of a reef provides ample hiding spaces. They are omnivores and should be fed a varied diet of frozen or live foods and plant matter. Blennies do not have teeth or functional jaw, so food must be small enough for them to swallow whole. Blennies are often confused with Gobies but while the later have two distinct dorsal fins, the former have a single dorsal fin that runs the length of their body. Also, Gobies’ pelvic fins are fused to form a sucker. Some of them are venomous. They can grow up to a size of 34 cm or 13.4 inches like the ‘Convict blenny’.
Convict blenny
Some of the popular varieties of Blennies:
1) Spinyhead blenny (Acanthemblemaria spinosa)- They are reef safe and not quite difficult to handle. They have brown chequered body with distinctive yellow frills on head. They are just 2cm or 0.8inches in size.
2) Bicolour blenny (Ecsenius bicolor)- They are also reef safe and easy to keep in aquarium. As the name suggests, these are characterized by the striking contrast of a blue head and upper torso followed by a yellow orange lower torso. They can grow up to a size of 11cm or 4.3 inches.
3) Black combtooth blenny (Ecsenius namiyei) & Black sailfin blenny (Atrosalarias fuscus)- They can be easily taken care of and reef safe. They can grow up to 10cm or 3.5inches.
4) Blue & gold blenny (Enchelyurus flavipes)- They are just 5cm or 2inches in size and are reef safe. They look amazing in the aquarium due to their colour and are easy to handle.
5) Diamond blenny (Malacoctenus boehlkei)- They can well be handled with little care and are reef safe. These are grey in colour with black spots with a yellow cover. These are shaped more like hawkfish. These can grow up to 6.5cm or 2.6 inches.
6) Lawnmower blenny (Salarias fasciatus)- These are absolute stunning for your aquarium but are a bit difficult to keep. But these are reef safe. These are tan and brown spotted and stripped fish. They required a mature tank. They can grow up to 14 cm or 5.5inches.
7) Midas blenny (Ecsenius midas)- They are not much of a difficult to keep and are reef safe. Although often seen yellow, this fish has the ability to change its color to match the surroundings. It has a very distinctive swallowtail shaped caudal fin. They can grow up to 13 cm (5.1 in).
8) Molly Miller blenny (Scartella cristata)- They can be easily taken care of and are reef safe. These are mottled tan, white, and black in colour. They can grow up to 12 cm (4.7 in).
9) Red lip blenny (Ophioblennius atlanticus)- As the name suggests, they have a red patch on their mouth. Their body is black to greyish yellow. They can be easily kept and are reef safe. They can grow up to 19 cm (7.5 in).
10) Sailfin blenny (Emblemaria pandionis)- They are very similar to Salarias fasciatus but are slightly darker and with a much larger dorsal fin. They can grow up to 5cm or 2 inches. They are not tough to handle either.
11) Tail spot blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura)- The fish is tanned all over with dark spot at the base of the caudal fin and a light yellow line through eye. They grow up to 6 cm (2.4 in).
12) Convict blenny (Pholidichthys leucotaenia)- These are closely related family of blenny, Pholidichthys. The juvenile has black eel-shaped body with a distinctive white stripe running down the body. Adults are yellow and black striped
The price range varies from $39 to $49.