Smoothfin blenny
Ecsenius frontalis
- Usual depth2–12 m
- Water temperature24–30 °C
- Best monthsAugust
- How commonRare
Photo credit: (c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Ecsenius frontalis, known commonly as the smooth-fin blenny in Micronesia, is a species of combtooth blenny in the genus Ecsenius. It is found in coral reefs in the western Indian Ocean, in several gulfs in the Red Sea. It can reach a maximum length of 8 centimetres. Blennies in this species primarily feed off of plants, including benthic algae and weeds, and are commercial aquarium fish.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Ecsenius frontalis”, 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: 1 records
- February: 2 records
- March: 1 records
- April: 5 records
- May: 5 records
- June: 0 records
- July: 5 records
- August: 12 records
- September: 3 records
- October: 7 records
- November: 1 records
- December: 4 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 2–12 m · Deepest record: 21.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C
Photos
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Smoothfin blenny, smoothfin blenny, Smooth-fin Blenny, twocolour blenny
Other scientific names: Ecsenius albicaudatus, Salarias frontalis, Salarias nigrovittatus
Similar species
Bicolor BlennyEcsenius bicolor
Great Barrier Reef BlennyEcsenius stictus
Coral BlennyEcsenius yaeyamaensis
Fourline BlennyEcsenius aequalis
Aron's blennyEcsenius aroni
Australian BlennyEcsenius australianus
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).
- 85 open-data records from 1956 to 2014.
- Species data updated November 2, 2026.
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