Red-head Blenny
Cirripectes vanderbilti
- Usual depth4–15 m
- Water temperature24–29 °C
- Best monthsAugust, September, and October
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
About this species
Cirripectes vanderbilti, also known as the scarface blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the Hawaiian and Johnston Atoll in the eastern central Pacific ocean. This species reaches a length of 10 cm (3.9 in) SL. It is commonly confused with Cirripectes variolosus.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Cirripectes vanderbilti”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 20 records
- February: 10 records
- March: 11 records
- April: 22 records
- May: 24 records
- June: 28 records
- July: 111 records
- August: 365 records
- September: 504 records
- October: 400 records
- November: 55 records
- December: 14 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 4–15 m · Deepest record: 26 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–29 °C
Photos
(c) My-Lan Le, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) cello caruso-turiello, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) jeyre, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Robin White, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) My-Lan Le, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Red-head Blenny, Scarface Blenny
Other scientific names: Ophioblennius capillus, Ophioblennius vanderbilti
Similar species
Chestnut blennyCirripectes castaneus
Lady Musgrave BlennyCirripectes chelomatus
Filamentous blennyCirripectes filamentosus
Barred blennyCirripectes polyzona
Red-streaked blennyCirripectes stigmaticus
Red-speckled blennyCirripectes variolosus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 1,435 open-data records from 1889 to 2019.
- Species data updated November 1, 2026.
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