Mock Blenny, Labrisomus cricota
Mock Blenny, Labrisomus cricota. Fish caught from coastal waters off Big Pine Key, Florida, July 2019. Length: 16 cm (6.3 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
The Mock Blenny, Labrisomus cricota, is a member of the Labrisomid Blenny or Labrisomidae Family, and is known in Mexico as trambollo burlón. 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 Mock Blenny has a robust body with a uniform depth that tapers gradually at the rear into the tail. They have 4 or 5 dark bars on the sides with fainter bars in between. All bars extend into the anal and dorsal fins. They have a well developed ocellus on the gill cover. They are sexually dimorphic with the males being an overall olive-gray with a olive head that has blue spots on the cheek and snout, and a red crest, lower head, and pelvic fins. The females are a violet gray to gray-brown, with the lower head, chest and pelvic fins being gray-brown with irregular patches on the lower side of head and throat. They have a broad head which has a blunt snout, large eyes, and a large mouth that is slightly oblique and equipped with patches of small teeth set behind the outer row of large teeth on the upper jaw, and on the sides of the roof of the mouth. They have long branched cirrus over each eye and two more or more heavily branched cirrus on each side of the nape. Their anal fin has two spines, and 17 to 19 rays, their dorsal fin has 17 spines, the first two being elongated, and 11 or 12 rays, and their pelvic fins have 1 spine and 3 rays and are inserted before the pelvic fins. They have 10 or 11 gill rakers. They have small scales on the rear of the body.
The Mock Blenny is a shallow water coastal species found within weed-covered rocky shores at depths up to 4 m (13 feet). They reach a maximum length of 16.2 cm (6.4 inches) in length. They are diurnal highly territorial predators that feed mostly on benthic crustaceans including small crabs. Reproduction is oviparous with the males having red heads and fore bodies that defend territories and tend to harems. The Mock 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 Mock Blenny can be confused with a series of other gobies and blennies including the Downy Blenny, Gobioclinus kalisherae, the Google-eye Blenny, Gobioclinus gobio, the Longfin Blenny, Gobioclinus haitiensis, the Masquerader Hairy Blenny, Labrasomus conditus, the Mimic Blenny, Gobioclinus guppyi, the Puffcheek Blenny, Gobioclinus bucciferus, however, the Mock Blenny is dark in color without the white spotting found in each of the above fish. It is also similar to the Hairy Blenny, Labrisomus nuchipinnis (black and white ocellus spot on the gill cover).
The Mock Blenny has a limited range in Mexican waters being found around the Yucatán Peninsula in the States of Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo.
From a conservation perspective the Mock Blenny is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are small in stature and of limited interest to most, however they are retained by subsistence fishermen for human consumption on a limited basis.