This is a perfect example of a very happy sub-adult Lawnmower Blenny! He is mowing down nuisance hair algae for the aquarist. It's like a human being surrounded by steak, or for those vegetarians, humus! These helpful gobblers of the green live up to 6 years as stated by some aquarists, however, most only report a life span of 2 to 4 years. This is possibly due to the fact that they need such large amounts of algae to survive, however will resort to meaty foods being offered, which is just not good for them! Make sure your tank is at least 55 gallons with no other algae eaters and your little brown and cream landscaper will be happy as a clam!
What an AWESOME video of the adorably ugly fish we all employ in our tanks at one time or another. The Lawnmower Blenny is a little 5" fish with the appetite of a tang! And he doesn't just stop at ONE type of algae like our picky tangs, he will eat it all! If it is green, it is gone! These guys will even eat the algae off the bases of LPS so the algae won't encroach! Gotto love this fish! Provide ALOT of algae growth and supplement with spirulina flake and sinking pellets! No meaty foods for this herbivore!
This is a great video showing the "horsey" face with the red outer edges of the pectoral fins. They are a darker fish and become mottled at night or when they are afraid. The lighter version is often confused with their 4.7" sister blenny which is actually the TRUE Redlip Blenny, that inhabits the same areas in the Western Atlantic as the Horseface Blenny. The Horseface Blenny grows to 7.5" and it will attack fish over 2ce their size. These blennies have long sharp fangs that will inflict a wound on any fish that wanders close to their territory, as well as a hand passing by! Small specimens are not as aggressive as larger adults.
These Scooter Blennies show that it is quite easy to have spawning in captivity. They need a lot of live food found on live rock like copepods and small amphipods. Each Scooter Blenny needs 100 pounds of live rocks that is supporting these little inverts. Tank raised Scooters will adapt to eating small pellets and should not be housed with aggressive, fast eating tank mates that will outcompete them for food. Wild caught that have plenty of live rock can be housed with such fast eaters, however. The male has a large first dorsal fin that he displays to attract his female.
Scooter Blennies, like the well known Mandarinfish are difficult and only intermediate to advanced aquarists should attempt to keep them. Unless the Scooter is eating pellets, they need a tank that has at least 100 pounds of mature, established, and copepod ridden live rock. If they are trained to eat small pellets, some aquarists will put them in a small jar that only the Scooter can fit into and eat peacefully from. Males and females are known to readily spawn in captivity if well fed.
