Blenny ID and habits?

[SDguy]

So I bought this blenny, without researching it (mainly because I couldn't even ID it from pics). I know, I know...really, after all these years!!?? Anyway, I'm pretty sure it's a lined blenny variant. Can anyone confirm? Also, what are its feeding habits? I'm seeing it biting at my purple haze monti :eek1: Please tell me I didn't buy a coral eater...

 

[Hormigaquatica]

Ive seen that variation before, and assumed E. lineatus as well. After double checking fishbase, Id be pretty confident tagging it as that (especially after going through every freakin Ecsenius species they have listed just to make sure).
According to fishbase:

Morphology: Dorsal spines (total): 12 - 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 17 - 18; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 19 â€"œ 20. Anterior nostril with a long cirrus on posterior margin only. A longitudinal dark stripe on body often interrupted in larger specimens. In some populations, the black lateral stripe is sometimes present as a series of blotches (not observed in Indonesia)

They also have several photos of those larger specimens that have the same broken pattern going back to a single spot on the base of the tail, along with the red/orange stripe at the base of the dorsal fin, the short white stripe coming back from the eyes just over the pupil, and the white line running along the bottom border of the darker main stripe (hard to make out in some of the fishbase pics, but definitely there, esp if you look towards the head)- just like yours does.

All that said- they are herbivores. He may be trying to get at some algae on top of the coral skeleton, but I will be surprised if he does any real damage to the coral.

 

[SDguy]

Thanks, makes me feel better. A very cool find, I'd say

Oh and tell me about it, when I first tried researching the fish before I bought it, I went through EVERY combtooth blenny listing on fishbase. Ugh!! there are a lot of these suckers...

 

[Hormigaquatica]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10584229#post10584229 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SDguy
I went through EVERY combtooth blenny listing on fishbase. Ugh!! there are a lot of these suckers...

:lol:

 

[extinguishfire]

I have known it as a Klauswitz blenny.

 

[SDguy]

Oh, ok. Cool. Do you own one?