Bicolor Blenny
Ecsenius bicolor
Sphinx Blenny
Aidablennius sphynx
About
The sphinx blenny is a tiny rock-dweller of the Mediterranean, growing to just 8 cm, and the only species in its genus.
Also known as: sphynx blenny
- Length
- 8 cm
Habitat
This blenny lives in very shallow, rocky water right at the shoreline, on flat, algae-covered rock exposed to sunlight and surf. It is found off Morocco in the eastern Atlantic, and through the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
Breeding
Sphinx blennies form pairs to breed. The female lays up to 7,000 eggs in one sitting, sticking them to the rock with a filament-like pad. The male then guards the eggs alone in a burrow. He eats any dead eggs to stop infection from spreading to the healthy ones, and when a brood is small, he sometimes eats living eggs too, likely because guarding leaves him little time to feed himself.
Did you know?
A guarding male sphinx blenny eats his own dead eggs to keep disease from spreading through the nest, and in a small brood he may eat some living eggs as well, probably because he cannot leave to feed himself.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
