Featherduster Blenny, Hypleurochilus multifilis
Featherduster Blenny, Hypleurochilus multifilis. Fish caught from coastal jetty off Panama City, Florida, June 2023. Size: Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Brayden Moore, Peoria, Arizona.
The Featherduster Blenny, Hypleurochilus multifilis, is a member of the Combtooth Blenny or Blennidae Family, that is also known as the just the Featherduster and the Plumbed Blenny and in Mexico borracho plumero. Globally, there are eleven species in the genus Hypleurochilus, of which three are found in Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Featherduster Blenny has an elongated compressed body with a large head with a blunt snout with a steep rounded front profile with eyes that are high on the sides of the head, the mouth at the front with elongated incisors and a large, curved canine at the rear of each jaw. and a steep rounded front profile. They have a large single cirrus over each eye. They are sexually dimorphic with the males being gray-brown with a pattern of indistinct pale irregular lines; the females are a mottled gray-brown and have a dark spot at the front of the dorsal fin, a dark spot at the base of the caudal fin, and faint bars on the caudal fin. Their anal fin has 2 spines and 16 or 17 rays; their first dorsal fin has 11 to 13 spines, and the second dorsal fin has 14 or 15 rays with the first being shorter than the second; their pectoral fins have 13 or 14 rays; and, their pelvic fins, inserted before the pectoral fins, have 1 spine and 3 rays. They have a two-part lateral line, the first curves down behind the pectoral fins and ends under the last dorsal spines and the second runs from mid-flan, to the middle of the anal fin. They do not have scales.
The Featherduster Blenny is a non-migratory coastal demersal species that is found in shallow water associated with hard substrate including rocky shores, jetties, oyster beds, coral reefs, and gas and oil rigs, at depths up to 18 m (60 feet). They reach a maximum length of 10.2 cm (4.0 inches). They are diurnal omnivores that primarily consume algae, amphipods, copepods, crustaceans, invertebrates, microalgae, mysis, and worms. In turn they are preyed upon by large crustaceans including crabs and lobsters and larger demersal fish. Reproduction is oviparous in distinct pairs with adhesive demersal eggs that attach to the substrate via a filamentous, adhesive pad or pedestal. The larvae are planktonic and often found in shallow coastal waters. They rely heavily on their cryptic coloration as a defense against predation. The Featherduster Blenny is a small shallow-water species that is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Featherduster Blenny is endemic to the Gulf of Mexico of the Atlantic Ocean and in Mexican waters has a limited distribution being found in coastal waters from the Texas border south to Tabasco.
The Featherduster Blenny can be confused with the Barred Blenny, Hypleurochilus bermudensis (white body with six black bars), the Molly Miller, Scartella cristata (green with red and white cirri), the Oyster Blenny, Hypleurochilus pseudoaequipinnis (four to six spots on the front of the body), and the Redlip Blenny, Ophioblennius macclurei (uniform brown color).
From a conservation perspective the Featherduster Blenny is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are too small in stature to be of interest to most. They are utilized by the aquarium trade at a modest level but require an aquarium that is at least 1,000 liters in size.