Small Blenny in Christmas Tree Worms (Bonaire)

I was diving in Bonaire the last couple of weeks taking macro shots of Christmas Tree worms while practicing with a new snooted flash.

To my surprise, I found two images that showed a small fish - looks like a Blenny - either inside or next to the worm.   I can't figure out what fish it is.

This was during the Digital Shootout 2022, and someone else with a similar shot won one of the macro prizes, which means there were at least three sightings like this in 2 weeks,

Take a look at Emblemariopsis pricei, Sea Fan Blenny.

Sea Fan Blenny it is!  

Indeed one of the Emblemariopsis blennies. The species cannot be distinguished visually. In the Reef Fish identification guide by Humann&Deloach this group of species is collectively named Southern Smoothhead Glass Blenny.

On 7/14/2022 at 1:58 PM, Floris Bennema said:

Indeed one of the Emblemariopsis blennies. The species cannot be distinguished visually. In the Reef Fish identification guide by Humann&Deloach this group of species is collectively named Southern Smoothhead Glass Blenny.

Thanks for the info.   This seems an unusual little creature - except in Bonaire.   I've never seen this before (fish in/on CTW), but I found 4 images with the combo, and another diver at the Digital Shootout won a prize for a similar shot.    They may be more common than I thought.  I do notice that the fish favored CTW's of similar color, I assume for camouflage

.

According to recent research, Emblemariopsis bottomei is the only Emblemariopsis sp. currently documented to occur in Bonaire. See this article from a colleague: http://www.coralreeffish.com/OSFweb/josf/josf37.pdf

I have taken many photos of this species in Bonaire. They can occur on many substrates, but I often find them nestled in the grooves on brain coral.

--Michael