About Dusky Blenny
Plain-brown blenny that earns its keep eating filamentous algae and perching photogenically on rockwork. Peaceful, hardy, and well-suited to nano and mid-sized reefs. Make sure there's enough algae growth to feed it.
Atrosalarias holomelas, the brown coral blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny native to coral reefs of the southwestern central Pacific Ocean. It grows to a length of 14.5 centimetres (5.7 in) and can be found in the aquarium trade.
Notes from the editors
What it looks like. Plain brown body with a slightly elongated form. Not flashy, but distinct personality and useful in the tank. Adults reach about 5.5 inches.
In your tank. Peaceful and reef-safe. Excellent grazer of filamentous algae — earns its keep in tanks with persistent algae growth. Will perch on rockwork and dart between hiding spots. Good for nano and mid-sized reefs.
Care notes. Make sure the tank has enough algae growth to sustain the fish, or supplement heavily with nori. Two combtooth blennies generally can't be kept together in tanks under 75 gallons — they fight for territory. Otherwise hardy and beginner-friendly.
Sourcing and feeding. Wild-collected from Indo-Pacific reefs; no commercial captive breeding. Inexpensive ($15–30). Primarily herbivorous — algae, nori, prepared herbivore foods, with occasional meaty supplementation.
Care info is a starting point, not a guarantee. Individual specimens, water chemistry, and tankmate dynamics vary. Verify against multiple sources and adjust to what you observe. See our terms & disclaimers.
Related fish
Sources & attribution
- Taxonomy and accepted name from the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS AphiaID 293549).
- Description content adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo: (c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY (via iNaturalist or Wikimedia Commons).