A small striped blenny of deeper reef, another one that belongs to this sea alone, sitting in a hole with its head out between ten and forty meters.
The 🌊 Red Sea has a striking number of these little endemic blennies - several species in the same genus, each with a slightly different depth band and habitat preference, all descended from populations that got isolated here when the sea was repeatedly cut off from the 🌊 Indian Ocean. This one took the deeper end.
It eats algae and small invertebrates picked off the rock around its hole, and like its relatives it has no swim bladder: movement is hopping and darting, never cruising.
Six centimeters (2.4 in). Not rare, but small, deep and stationary, which together mean most divers have never consciously seen one.
The genus. Ecsenius McCulloch 1923 - senio (six each). ETYFish
- small blenny, pale with a dark stripe from the snout through the eye onto the body
- yellowish tinge on the head in some fish
- deeper than the other small blennies, usually below 10 m
- length up to 6 cm
Why it's threatened
There are no major threats known for this species. Although this is a coral reef species, the Red Sea is not heavily impacted by bleaching events.
Threat classification from the IUCN Red List.
