Redlip Blenny – Ophioblennies Atlanticus

Description

The Redlip Blenny, Ophioblennies Atlanticus is a fish with very distinctive characteristics. Although, the name itself implies it’s large reddish lips, that is not the only thing distinguishing it. It’s body is a blended black and red with yellow, which sort of helps to camouflage the fins and body. What sticks out most about the Redlip Blenny are the four small horns branching out on it’s head and the very blunt nose, which leads this fish to look almost like a horse thus giving it it’s alias name “ Horse Face Blenny”. They can grow to be around 4 inches long.

A native to the Caribbean Ocean and seen the majority of the time in the western central Atlantic Ocean. The Redlip Blenny is a herbivore. However, don’t let his vegetarian lifestyle fool you, they have two fang like teeth that will allow them to fight for their territory.

The Redlip Blenny feeds on seaweed, marine algae, spirulina, and algae based foods 2-3 times daily. With that being said, they require aquariums with large amounts of natural algae to thrive to the fullest. The Redlip Blenny is very thankful and hardy fish which makes them great beginner fish for new tanks. However, they are jumpers so don’t forget to keep your tank closed!