Plagiotremus townsendi
A tiny, uncommon find in Marsa Alam and the Red Sea Riviera, sitting in reef holes at 24-29C waiting to dart out and nip.
Safety warning
The bite itself is minor but can carry a mild venom that causes brief pain or a woozy sensation in some divers, so leave it alone if you spot one in a crevice. Do not attempt to handle or provoke it for a photo; a nip is far more likely if you corner it or reach into its hole.
If you're bitten
Venomous bite (mild)General first-aid guidance, not a substitute for professional medical care. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.
A slender, eel-like blenny that tops out around 4 cm, easy to miss unless it moves. Look for a dark body with pale bands or blotches along the flank and a slightly upturned mouth housing the fang-like teeth that give the family its name. It tends to hover near a burrow or crevice rather than swim openly over the reef.
Divers usually spot it stationed near a small hole or crevice in the reef, poking its head out rather than cruising in open water. It is not shy in the sense of fleeing, but it is easy to overlook given its size, and most sightings are opportunistic rather than sought out. Like other fangblennies, it seems most active around the reef structure itself rather than in the water column.
Fangblennies in this genus use their enlarged canine teeth defensively, delivering a quick nip if provoked or handled rather than using them for feeding on other fish.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the sightings, and the water temperature range logged (23.8 to 29.3C) covers most of the diving year in the Red Sea, so treat this as a year-round possibility rather than a seasonal target.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
This is a Red Sea find, most reliably logged around Marsa Alam and the Deep South in Egypt, with additional sightings along the Red Sea Riviera. It has not shown up in diver logs outside Egypt, so if you want to look for it, that stretch of Egyptian coast is the place to focus.
Mapping where Townsend's Fangblenny is logged…
It is logged almost exclusively in Egypt, with the strongest records around Marsa Alam and the Deep South, plus a few sites along the Red Sea Riviera.
There is no strong seasonal pattern in the sightings, and it tolerates water from roughly 24 to 29C, so it is a year-round possibility on Red Sea reefs rather than a seasonal target.
It can deliver a small venomous bite if handled or cornered, causing brief pain rather than serious injury. Simply avoid reaching into reef crevices and you are unlikely to have any issue.
Look for a slim, eel-like blenny around 4 cm long, dark-bodied with pale bands, usually poking out of a hole or crevice rather than swimming freely. The upturned mouth with visible fang-like teeth is a giveaway if you get a close look.
They are small, typically reaching around 4 cm in length, which makes them easy to swim past unnoticed.
Townsend's fangblenny relies on a pair of enlarged canine teeth to deliver a quick defensive bite when threatened or grabbed, rather than for feeding purposes.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Klipfish
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