Red Scooter Blenny

While at Beyond the Reef on Thursday I decided to pick up a Red Scooter Blenny. They had red ones and they had the normal brownish grey ones. I thought the red would stand out more so I payed the extra $10 for him. It turns out that when he is sitting on the rocks he is difficult to see because the red blends in with the Coralline. It's a cool fish to watch scoot around looking for food. They have oversized ventral fins that they perch on. They spend much more time resting on these fins than they do swimming. It essentially uses these fins as legs.


Looking at this fish makes you think about the resemblance to Tiktaalik as discussed in Neal Shubin's book Your Inner Fish. It also resembles the Darwin fish car plaques that show the tiny legs protruding from the fish's body. Also take a look at their eyes. Click on the picture above to zoom way in. Their eyes look like lizard eyes. What will the descendants of Scooter Blennys look like in a few million years? Will they some day leave the ocean floor and head for the beach? Maybe they will if we humans don't manage to destroy their habitat first.