A golden blenny that has joined the anthias. It leaves the bottom, swims up into a school of them, matches their color and their forked-tail shape, and feeds in the water column alongside them - which is not blenny behavior at all.
The imitation is good enough to fool a diver and, more importantly, the anthias. A blenny that would be conspicuous alone becomes one orange fish among two hundred, and predators that hunt anthias schools have to solve a target-selection problem before they can single it out.
It takes plankton with the school, and it also does what its family does - grazes algae off rock - so the disguise buys it a second way of feeding rather than replacing the first.
Thirteen centimeters (5 in). Look for a fish in an anthias school that has a blunt face and a slightly different swimming rhythm; once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
The genus. Ecsenius McCulloch 1923 - senio (six each). ETYFish
The species. Ecsenius midas Starck 1969 - Honours King Midas of Greek mythology. ETYFish
- slender golden-orange blenny with a forked tail
- swims up in the water column among anthias, not perched on rock
- blunt blenny face gives it away at close range
- length up to 13 cm
Why it's threatened
The degradation of coral reef habitats may impact this species on a local level.
Threat classification from the IUCN Red List.
