Midas blenny at LFS, tail damage?

[EugeneReef]

Hi all, I was thinking of purchasing a Midas Blenny from my LFS to replace my Flame Angel which died very suddenly. However the fish they have both are missing the bottom point of their tail, sort of like in this picture I was able to find online:

http://i.imgur.com/RNsWSwo.jpg

Does this mean that their tail has been damaged? Would it be a bad idea to buy such a fish? Or is this just a variation on the species? I see that most snapshots online have a symmetrical tail, but not all. I thought it was odd that the two that they had both had this characteristic.

 

[Crooked Reef]

Not sure if this is a normal variation, but tails should grow back unless they are fully missing. I have a lionfish that had its side ray fins chewed mostly off and they have pretty much grown back over the past couple of months. I would say the more important thing would be to verify the behavior and health of the fish than this as it looks more cosmetic.

 

[j.falk]

I pass on fish that are already damaged. Not worth the risk.

 

[Tripod1404]

The fish in the picture has a normal tail I doubt all fish will have a 100% symmetrical tails. And yes, damaged fins will grow back very rapidly.