Smooth Sabretooth Blenny

Petroscirtes xestus is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian ocean.

Description

This species reaches a length of 7 centimetres (2.8 in) TL. It has a pale whitish, pale yellowish to greyish body with dense spotting and mottling, and a dark stripe from the eye to the tail base. It has a tall dorsal fin and small tufts below the chin.

Distribution

Indo-Pacific: East Africa to the Line and Society Islands, north to Mariana Islands, south to the southern Great Barrier Reef; throughout Micronesia. Likely at Seychelles.

Habitat

Smooth sabretooth blennies usually live in burrows in sandy and weedy areas. Adults occur solitary usually over sandy areas of reef flats and shallow lagoons. Small juveniles were found below the upside-down jelly Cassiopea that moves over sandy substrates providing safe travel. Eggs are attached to the substrate via a filamentous, adhesive pad or pedestal. Females nest in empty mollusk shells. Larvae are planktonic, often found in shallow, coastal waters.