Benny ID assistance from SE Florida

[OceanEyes]

I could use some help identifying this colorful critter that I came across on consecutive dives last Wednesday and Thursday at the Blue Heron Bridge, Lake Worth Lagoon, Rivera Beach, Florida.

Upon initially spotting this fish on Wednesday, I thought that I’d found a Molly Miller, Scartella cristata, but when I looked at the images on screen, it did not appear to have a fringe of cirri on top of its head, and the coloration seemed too brilliant.

It could be a Barred Blenny, Hypleurochilus bermudensis, but as it didn’t leave its burrow while I was looking, I couldn’t tell wether it had the dark bars along its body from which it earns its common name.

Any suggestions or guidance as to what this may be?

Many thanks all.

 

[T.C.]

Seaweed Blenny. The cirri pattern is pretty distinctive (bunched with many branches) and they're very common in Florida. You've probably seen them before, but they have such a wide variety of patterns.

 

[OceanEyes]

Sincere thanks to you @T.C. I’ve photographed literally hundreds of Seaweed Blennies, Parablennius marmoreus, over the past 30 years of living and diving here in south Florida. I cannot recall seeing a specimen with such distinctive orange spots, and was nurturing the hope that I’d come across something a bit less common. Unless I learn otherwise, I agree with your assessment, and will add the information to my file’s metadata. As Maxwell Smart often stated: “Missed it by that much.”

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Agree. My first guess would be a seaweed. How big was it? If in a hidey hole on one of the supports, and is smaller, it may be an oyster blenny.