Fish ID please

[nitrotmann]

This little guy came into the LFS as a Rusty Hawk Goby. Noone has heard of this goby, so through google's searching, I think he's a Tompot Blenny. Can anyone help me out? He's a cool little guy.

 

[AuroraDrvr]

It's actually not a Blenny at all. Rather, a Sandperch (Pinguipedidae).

Unfortunately it seems the Sandperch Family isn't as studied as other species. The fish is from the Parapercis genus. My guess is Parapercis pulchella (Harlequin Sandsmelt).

 

[ozadars]

Not a sandperch either. Its a triplefin - family Tripterygiidae (it has three dorsal fins)

If you are from Croatia and this fish is from Mediterranean its a Tripterygion, most probably a female Tripterygion tripteronotus

 

[philter4]

To me it looks like a female saddle blenny, Malacoctenus triangulatus. Sand perch have a lg mouth with the lower jaw protruding slightly, giving the fish a sort of pouty look. The pattern is definitly a saddle blenny. If you look at the photo, the dorsal fin is folded not split, and the notch in the front is normal, triplefins have 3 divided fins.

 

[nitrotmann]

the dorsal fins have a notch right after the first little fin, then it continues in a high, low, high fin profile, but all one fin. i'l try for a better side shot of him. he doesn't like his picture taken very much. thanks all for the suggestions.

This is him, the saddle blenny.