Combtooth blennies are blenniiformids; percomorph marine fish of the family Blenniidae, part of the order Blenniiformes. They are the largest family of blennies with around 401 known species in 58 genera. Combtooth blennies are found in tropical and subtropical waters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans; some species are also found in brackish and even freshwater environments.
Combtooth blenny
Combtooth blenny (Alticus anjouanae), La Réunion
Blue-lined sabertooth blenny Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos in a rock hole
A very protective Petroscirtes variabilis male risks his life to protect his brood
Blenny is a common name for many types of fish, including several families of percomorph marine, brackish, and some freshwater fish sharing similar morphology and behaviour. Six families are considered "true blennies", grouped under the order Blenniiformes; its members are referred to as blenniiformids. About 151 genera and nearly 900 species have been described within the order. The order was formerly classified as a suborder of the Perciformes but the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World divided the Perciformes into a number of new orders and the Blenniiformes were placed in the percomorph clade Ovalentaria alongside the such taxa as Cichliformes, Mugiliformes and Gobiesociformes.
Image: Ophioblennius steindachneri
Image: Australian blenny
Salarias sinuosus, the fringelip blenny
Blenny hiding in a hole near Gilli Lawa Laut, Indonesia