Blackback Snake Blenny

Interesting Info

• The Blackback Snake Blenny is a slender, eel-like fish that lives only in southern Australia, from Victoria and Tasmania through South Australia to south-western Western Australia.
• It is an endemic species, meaning it is found nowhere else in the world but Australia’s temperate coastal waters.
• Its body is long and snake-like, with a dark band or blotchy “black back” that runs along the top half of the body—giving it its common name.
• The rest of the body is mottled brown, tan, and cream, a perfect camouflage among rubble, algae, and sponges on rocky reefs.
• They spend much of their time weaving through seaweed or lying still on sand patches where their colour pattern makes them almost invisible.
• Snake blennies often move with an undulating, eel-like motion, helping them slip into narrow cracks and weed beds for safety.
• They feed on tiny invertebrates such as small crustaceans, worms, and molluscs, which they snap up quickly from the reef surface.
• These blennies are shy and usually solitary, relying on camouflage rather than speed to avoid predators.
• Spawning takes place in warmer months; females attach sticky eggs to algae or rock surfaces, where they are guarded until hatching.
• Juveniles are tiny and semi-transparent, staying in shallow weedy habitats until they mature.
• The average lifespan is about 3–4 years, typical of small reef-dwelling blennies.
• Predators include larger reef fish, squid, octopuses, and seabirds that hunt in the shallows.
• They play a small but important role in reef ecosystems by controlling populations of small invertebrates and serving as prey for larger predators.