Shorthead Fangblenny
Petroscirtes breviceps
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Actinopterygii
- Order
- Blenniiformes
- Family
- Blenniidae
- Genus
- Petroscirtes
- Species
- Petroscirtes breviceps
The shorthead fangblenny (Petroscirtes breviceps) is a small, striped blenny that often shelters in bottles, cans and empty shells on muck sites. It usually shows dark stripes along a pale body, a pattern that mimics the venomous striped poison-fang blenny.
Reaching around 10 cm, it lives in seagrass, algae and sandy areas. It has a pair of large fangs in its lower jaw and feeds on small invertebrates and algae. Males guard eggs laid inside their chosen shelter.
The shorthead fangblenny occurs across the Indo-West Pacific, including the Philippines, where it is a familiar sight peering out of discarded bottles and shells on sandy slopes.