Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis

Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis. Fish caught from within Jetty Park, Cape Canaveral, Florida, January 2022. Length: 12 cm (4.7 inches) each. Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of James Lafontaine, Long Island, New York.

Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis. Fish caught from within the  Jupiter Inlet, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, April 2018. Length: 10.4 cm (4.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ryan Crutchfield, Tampa, Florida.

Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis. Fish caught from coastal waters off Corpus Christi, Texas, July 2020.  Length: 11.2 cm (4.4 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis, Female. Fish caught from coastal waters off Corpus Cristi, Texas, November 2019. Length: 12.7 cm (5.0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).

Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis, Female. Fish caught from coastal waters off San Juan, Puerto Rico, December 2013. Length: 13 cm (5.1 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.

Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis. Fish caught from within the Sebastian Inlet, Micco, Florida, November 2020. Length: 13.5 cm (5.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.

Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis. Fish caught from coastal waters off Key West, Florida, August 2014. Length: 14.0 cm (5.5 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Dean Kimberly, Atlanta, Georgia.

Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis. Underwater photo taken within the Sebastian Inlet, Micco, Florida, June 2021.  Photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian Florida.

The Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis, is a member of the Labrisomid Blenny or Labrisomidae Family, and is known in Mexico as trambollo peludo. Globally, there are twenty-seven species in the genus Labrisomus, of which thirteen are found in Mexican waters, nine in the Atlantic and four in the Pacific Ocean.

The Hairy Blenny has a shortened elongated body with a uniform depth throughout that tapers gradually at the rear into the tail. The sexes have different and highly variable colorations with various shades of brown with contrasting brown bars that extend onto the dorsal fin without reaching the margin. Males vary from yellow to green to almost black with a red belly, chin, head, and fins. Their head is covered with small pale spots in a mesh of dark lines; they have a well-developed ocellus spot on their gill cover and a dark blotch at the front of their dorsal fin, which is absent in juveniles. Their head is broad with a blunt snout, large eyes, a branched cirrus over each eye, and 2 or more heavily branched cirri on each side of the nape. Their mouth is large, opens at the front, and is slightly oblique; it is equipped with one row of small teeth on the upper and lower jaws. Their anal fin has 2 spines and 18 rays; their caudal fin is square; their dorsal fin has 17 to 20 spines and 10 to 13 rays with a deep notch in between; and, their pelvic fins are inserted before the pectoral fins. They have 10 to 13 gill rakers. They are covered with small smooth scales.

The Hairy Blenny is a shallow water coastal species found within patch reefs, coral formations, and coral rubble at depths up to 20 m (65 feet). They reach a maximum of 22.0 cm (8.7 inches) in length. They are diurnal highly territorial predators that feed mostly on benthic crustaceans including small crabs. Reproduction is oviparous with females depositing eggs in protected areas.  The Hairy Blenny 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 Hairy Blenny is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

The Hairy Blenny can be easily confused with a series of Blennies including the Downy Blenny, Gobioclinus kalisherae (long first dorsal spine), the Longfin Blenny, Gobioclinus haitiensis (long first dorsal spine), the Mimic Blenny, Gobioclinus guppyi (5 dark bars on sides extending into anal and dorsal fins), the Palehead Blenny, Gobioclinus gobio (no ocellus spot on gill cover), the Puffcheek Blenny, Gobioclinus bucciferus (no ocellus spot on gill cover) and the Whitecheek Blenny, Labrisomus albigenys (wide white bar with black margins under eye).

From a conservation perspective the Hairy Blenny is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are small in stature, seldom seen by humans and of limited interest to most.