Fish Identification Photos: Angel Blenny, Coralliozetus angelicus: The female Angel Blenny has an overall golden brown appearance with dark molting on the cheeks and along the top of the back and the bottom, and a prominent brown spot at the base of the pectoral fin (as pictured below).

The Angel Blenny has a small pointed snout and large pectoral and pelvic fins. The Angel Blenny is a shallow-water, diurnal, highly territorial predator that feeds mostly on zooplankton. It is found in empty barnacle shells within the intertidal zone in rocky reefs and tidal pools in the first 15 feet of the water column. It reaches a maximum length of 1 inch.

Due to the unique markings along the top of the back and the bottom, the Angel Blenny cannot be easily confused with any other species.

In Mexican waters the Angel Blenny has a limited distribution, being found in the lower half of the Sea of Cortez and along the coast of the Mexican mainland south to Guatemala. Due to its size and rarity the Angel Blenny is of limited interest to most.

The Angel Blenny is a member of the Chaenopsidae Family which include the Tube Blennies, Barnacle Blennies, Pike Blennies, Signal Blennies, and Worm Blennies whose members are known in Mexico as trambollos tubícolas. The chaenopsidaes are small bottom-dwelling fishes that seek permanent shelter in the unoccupied shells of barnacles or in tubes of certain worms and mollusks in and around rocky reefs. The diet of most consists of zooplankton including copepods, isopods, and amphipods. There is a marked dimorphism in most species with males being brightly colored with better developed supraoribital cirri, longer jaws, and higher dorsal fins. They lay demersal eggs which are guarded by the male until hatching. At present there are 6 known species of the Coralliozetus Genus of which 4 are found in Mexican waters. The chaenopsidae are favorite subjects of underwater photographers.

Angel Blenny, Coralliozetus angelicus: Female. Collected from the Gordo Point Reef, 6 miles off La Playita, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, tidal pool midafternoon, in 80-degree water, in November 2007. Size, approximately 1 inch. Identification courtesy of Dr. Phil Hastings, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif. Description and photo courtesy of John Snow.