Pholis clemensi
Small, slippery, easy to miss: find longfin gunnel among cold-water rock and kelp in British Columbia, 8-11C year-round.
A small, eel-like fish barely 9 cm long, with a slender, laterally compressed body that lets it slip into narrow rock crevices and kelp holdfasts. Look for mottled brown to olive colouring that blends closely with the surrounding rock and algae, plus a long, continuous dorsal fin running most of the body length. It swims with a subtle side-to-side wriggle rather than finning like a typical reef fish, which is often the first thing that gives it away.
Expect to find it wedged into a rock crevice, tucked under a ledge, or hiding among kelp holdfasts rather than out swimming in open water. It tends to hold still and rely on its camouflage when a diver approaches, so slow, close looking along rocky walls and kelp beds pays off more than scanning mid-water. Most divers who log it describe a brief, still sighting rather than any prolonged interaction.
Its slender, flattened shape and small size mean it can squeeze into crevices far too narrow for most reef fish, which is exactly why most divers rate it rare to uncommon even at sites where it lives.
Sightings show no clear seasonal pattern, so treat this as a year-round find in its 8 to 10.8C temperature niche. Cold-water divers in British Columbia have a chance of spotting one on any dive, any month.
This is a British Columbia speciality, with sightings concentrated entirely along the Canadian Pacific coast. Divers log it most often on rocky reef and kelp-bed sites throughout British Columbia, where cold, nutrient-rich water suits its small, crevice-dwelling lifestyle.
Mapping where Longfin Gunnel is logged…
Longfin gunnel is logged almost exclusively in British Columbia, Canada, on rocky reef and kelp-bed dive sites. It has not been reported in significant numbers anywhere outside this cold-water Pacific coast region.
There is no strong seasonal pattern in the sighting data, so it is considered a year-round find. It lives in consistently cold water between about 8 and 10.8C, which British Columbia's coast offers throughout the year.
Look for a small, slender, eel-like fish around 9 cm long with mottled brown colouring and a long dorsal fin running nearly the full body length. It is usually found tucked into rock crevices or kelp holdfasts rather than swimming openly.
They are small fish, typically reaching only around 9 cm in length. Their slim, flattened body is built for squeezing into tight rocky crevices rather than open swimming.
No, they are not dangerous to divers. They are small, shy, crevice-dwelling fish that rely on hiding and camouflage rather than any defensive behaviour toward divers.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
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