Group of fangblennies swarming around the one in the hole. (video frame capture)
On our recent trip to Bali, I added a new blenny species to my Blennywatcher life list and observed what we are sure was spawning. Excited by my initial sighting, I chased a little Smith’s Fangblenny, Meiacanthus smithi, down the reef, where to my surprise, it joined a milling group, whose attention seemed to be focused on a blenny peeking out of a hole. The blenny in the hole would emerge, gently lunge at one of the group and swim back to its hole. After watching it repeat this behavior several times, I realized that it must be a male trying to encourage a female to enter his home to lay eggs.
Fangblennies are combtooth blennies of the family Blenniidae. The family is further divided into six tribes, one of which is the tribe Nemophini, a.k.a., the Saber-toothed blennies. The name sounds quite ominous, but they use their fangs for defense or to defend territories (although species from the genus Plagiotremus have been implicated in attacks on divers). I have read that males will guard fertilized eggs until they hatch, but the nature of the homes they choose (usually holes in coral rock, on inside empty shells) makes it difficult to tell if there are eggs present. Although written primarily for aquarists, there is a good overview of fangblennies of the genus Meiacanthus over at Advanced Aquarist that includes a photo of blenny eggs in a pipe.
Here, the chances of seeing the eggs would be slim even though it looked like we were witnessing spawning because of the location and size of the blenny’s hole. By the time Ned caught up with me, I had been watching the male courting the females for about five minutes.
He slips out to make room for her. (video frame capture)
And she finally accepts the invitation to enter. (video frame capture)
Finally, one of the females entered his hole, he looked in, then backed into the hole to join her. After about five seconds he disappeared completely but just before he did, he bared his little fangs – something I had only seen once before. You can see it in the video below, but it happened quickly, so watch carefully. The crowd dispersed and I followed a couple of what I guessed to be females down the reef where they encountered another courting male.
Another fabulous behavior encounter!!! Love these Anna!!!
Fantastic coverage and dedication to a world I hardly ever even thought about. It is fascinating to have had this opportunity to see and it will require some more time later. Thank you. As for bottles and glass my story is covered in the homepage. I have collected about 1,000 bottles at my NY home and nearly as many here in FL. I have specialized in SARATOGA Mineral Bottles, Early demijohns, and the Early Case Gin bottle developments. Minored in giant advertizing bottles, glass parade canes and batons, fishing net floats, worked in the worlds glass industry for 38 years before retirement. I developed a new metal alloy of Nickel that worked so well that when I left Thatcher Glass – I traveled the worlds glass factories to explain to them why they needed many metal parts made of this metal if it gets touched by hot glass. It has been a great life of doing and living in the glass making world. My better half traveled with me on all these world travels and we have had 63+ years of married happiness and two daughters. My brother married my wife’s sister and they had two daughters. So now enjoy your neat life of pursuit, and enjoy your exposure to old bottles. CSM
Red, I’m happy to have this opportunity to introduce you to the world of blennies and thank you for sharing your knowledge of bottles. I’m looking forward to learning a lot more about antique bottles, my latest obsession!