Bluestriped fangblenny in the Indian Ocean

© Tobias Friedrich/SuperStock

Bluestriped fangblenny in the Indian Ocean

Perhaps the bluestriped fangblenny smiles because it keeps fooling larger fish. This reef-dweller swims in both the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It mimics the bluestreak cleaner wrasse, a fish that ‘cleans’ larger fish by eating the dead scales, parasites, and other detritus that the larger fish wants to get rid of. The fangblenny, however, is an aggressive mimic. It hangs out at cleaner stations and dupes the larger fish into thinking it will give them a spa treatment just like the cleaner wrasses do, but instead it feeds on the clients’ skin, mucus, and scales. If its cover is blown, and things get dangerous, it has a bite that delivers a morphine-like venom that slows down the aggrieved big fish, giving the bluestriped fangblenny time to swim to safety.