Feather Blenny

Feather Blenny

Hypsoblennius hentzi

Size: to 5"

Habitat: bays, estuaries, protected coastal waters

Notes:

Blennies live on the bottom in oyster beds or mussel beds. If you find an old piece of pipe or a bottle in the river, look inside - you'll probably find a blenny.

Feather Blenny

Feather Blennies have branching "horns" over the eyes, called cirri.

Similar Striped Blenny has a more pointed profile with almost invisible cirri. I have not yet encountered the third and final species of blenny in our area - the Seaweed Blenny.

Feather Blenny
Feather Blenny
When I was cleaning his aquarium once, this little bugger swam up and bit my hand, and left a mark !!! They have very strong jaws.

An Aquarium For the Naturalist

By Ronald M. Clayton
Illustrations by author

Maintaining an aquarium filled with local fish and other aquatics can be an enjoyable, learning experience, and give you a good excuse to get out and stomp around in your local pond or stream. It's fun collecting new animals and plants to add to the aquarium, to replace ones that have died, or as food for your locally acquired fish, and learning about your wildlife is a fascinating part of the experience. In the shimmering shallows and mysterious depths of almost any nearby body of water thrives a whole world of living things, some very ugly and some very beautiful - the variety will amaze you. If you are interested in providing inexpensive recreation and education for yourself and perhaps your family, read on.

Printed from njscuba.net