Eel Blenny

Xiphasia setifer

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth26–99 m
Water temperature15–29 °C
Best monthsMarch, April, and October
How commonRare

About this species

Xiphasia setifer, the hairtail blenny or the snake blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. This species reaches 53 cm (21 in) in SL and is the longest species of combtooth blenny. It can also be found in the aquarium trade.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Xiphasia setifer”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 6 records
February: 11 records
March: 15 records
April: 16 records
May: 13 records
June: 8 records
July: 3 records
August: 4 records
September: 3 records
October: 19 records
November: 11 records
December: 12 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 26–99 m · Deepest record: 305 m

10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 6 records
30–40 m: 10 records
40–50 m: 11 records
50–60 m: 17 records
60–70 m: 7 records
70–80 m: 5 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110–120 m: 1 records
120+ m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–29 °C

14–16 °C: 2 records
16–18 °C: 1 records
18–20 °C: 8 records
20–22 °C: 23 records
22–24 °C: 43 records
24–26 °C: 14 records
26–28 °C: 36 records
28–30 °C: 41 records

Names and classification

English: Eel Blenny, Hair-tail Blenny, Hairtail Blenny, hairtailed blenny, Hair Tailed Blenny, Snakeblenny, Snake Blenny

Names in 4 more languages

Spanish: Blenio Serpiente
Japanese: Unagigimpo, ウナギギンポ
Thai: ปลากระบี่
Simplified Chinese: 帶鳚, 長鳚

Similar species

Mimic blenny
Aspidontus taeniatus
Black Blenny
Atrosalarias holomelas
Bluespotted Blenny
Blenniella chrysospilos
Blue-dashed rockskipper
Blenniella periophthalmus
Chestnut blenny
Cirripectes castaneus
Filamentous blenny
Cirripectes filamentosus

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).
298 open-data records from 1839 to 2025.

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