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 a fleeting moment that fortunately resulted in a relatively good pic (Pic No 1). Two coloured blenny, with brown and grey field placed alternatively along its 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, on a popular beaches in a village of Dubrovnik riviera (Cavtat). The depth in this zone is between 0,5m up to 3m, and then descending sharply down to 10m. The sea bottom here is rocky, creating many crevasses and tunnels, and rocks are abundantly covered in algae. In those deeper waters, there are some large colonies of sea grass.

Notes:

This summer I decided to spend more time snorkelling among rocks close to shores, in search of blennies and similar rockbottom dwellers. Mission accomplished and I got a load of photos of them - 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 with blennies is that they are difficult to identify - I suppose that, as they have no economic or culinary interest, they are often overlooked and neglected.