Imspringer

Istiblennius bellus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–100 m
Water temperature23–28 °C
Best monthsNovember
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Robert Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Robert Taylor · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Istiblennius bellus, the imspringer, is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the Pacific and western Indian Ocean. It is also known as the beautiful rockskipper or the dusky blenny. Males of this species can reach a maximum of 16 cm (6.3 in) SL, while females reach a maximum of 13.1 cm (5.2 in) SL.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Istiblennius bellus”, 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: 9 records
February: 10 records
March: 1 records
April: 9 records
May: 4 records
June: 7 records
July: 23 records
August: 5 records
September: 2 records
October: 6 records
November: 46 records
December: 8 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–100 m · Deepest record: 100 m

0–10 m: 8 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 0 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 23–28 °C

22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 55 records
26–28 °C: 16 records
28–30 °C: 27 records

Photos

(c) Noeleen du Toit, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Robert Taylor, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lisa Bennett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lisa Bennett, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Noeleen du Toit, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Imspringer, Beautiful Rockskipper, Dusky Blenny, imspringer

Other scientific names: Istiblennius impudens, Salarias bellus, Salarias kellersi, Salarias leopardus, Salarias personatus

Similar species

Streaky rockskipper
Istiblennius dussumieri
Rippled rockskipper
Istiblennius edentulus
Black-lined Blenny
Istiblennius lineatus
peacock blenny
Istiblennius meleagris
rockskipper
Istiblennius zebra
pallid rockskipper
Istiblennius flaviumbrinus

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).
111 open-data records from 1861 to 2023.
Species data updated November 3, 2026.

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