Cirripectes vanderbilti
A small, uncommon blenny logged across Hawaii's reefs in water around 25C, year-round if you know where to look close to the rock.
A stubby 7cm fish that sits propped on its pectoral fins against rock and rubble rather than swimming in open water. Body colour is mottled brown to olive, camouflaged against algae-covered substrate, with a darker patch or smudge across the face that gives the species its common name. Look for the blunt head, comb-like fringe of cirri (small fleshy filaments) above the eyes, and the way it perches motionless until you get close, then darts into a crevice.
Spends most of its time perched motionless on rock or rubble, using its pectoral fins like little props, blending into algae-covered substrate until disturbed. When divers approach too closely it darts a short distance into a crevice or hole rather than fleeing across open reef, then often pokes back out once things settle. Most sightings happen on close, slow-paced looks at the reef structure rather than mid-water scanning.
Like other combtooth blennies, it grazes algae directly off rock surfaces with comb-shaped teeth, so you'll usually find it stationed over the same patch of turf it's been quietly mowing.
Sightings don't show a clear season, and the water temperature range logged (24.8 to 25.6C) sits within Hawaii's stable year-round reef conditions, so there's no particular month to target. Go whenever you're diving Hawaii's reefs and take time to scan rock and rubble rather than the water column.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
Every logged sighting in the data comes from the United States, specifically Hawaii, making it the place to look for this one. Within Hawaii it turns up on rocky and rubble-strewn reef patches at a spread of sites, though it's never the fish you build a dive around, more a reward for divers who check the substrate closely.
Mapping where Scarface Blenny is logged…
Sightings logged for this species come from Hawaii, United States, where it's found perched on rocky and rubble reef substrate at a range of dive sites. It hasn't been widely recorded elsewhere.
There's no strong seasonal pattern in the sighting data, and Hawaii's reef temperatures stay fairly stable within its comfort range, so it's considered a year-round sighting rather than a seasonal one.
Look for a small, 7cm mottled brown fish propped on rock or rubble with a darker facial patch and small fleshy cirri above the eyes. It stays still until approached, then darts into a nearby crevice rather than swimming off across open reef.
They're small, reaching around 7cm in length, so you need to be looking closely at rock and rubble surfaces rather than scanning the water column to spot one.
They graze algae directly off rock and rubble surfaces using comb-shaped teeth, typically stationed over the same patch of reef they've been feeding on.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Klipfish
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