Tompot Blenny

Description:

Locally known as 'Slingura', 'slingurica' or 'balavica',the Tompot blenny is a large blenny, about 12-15 in length - difficult task to estimate its length, as this blenny a very discreet fish and very fast to hide. Here seen in two different fleeting moments that fortunately resulted in a relatively good pics. This blenny is two-coloured, with brown and grey fields placed alternatively along the body, its main feature being these two horn-like antennae.

Habitat:

This is a very common littoral fish in Adriatic, occurring all along Croatian coast - but it is overlooked most often, as there is no economic nor fishing interest in it. Here, observed on two different occasions, both in similar habitats - close to shoreline, at some 0,5-1m of depth, The sea bottom here is rocky, creating many crevasses and tunnels, and rocks are abundantly covered in algae.

Notes:

I noticed I'm developing a growing interest in blennies and similar rockbottom dwellers, mainly those that have little or no economic nor culinary value, and are therefore often neglected. So this summer, I got a load of pics of various blennies - unfortunately, most of them are too blurry, as blennies are very fast to move and hide, and most often occur as fleeting shadow in my pics... Another problem is that, as they are so neglected, they are also difficult to ID afterwards.