Help with Akumal Bay blenny?

[JohnnyC]

Saw a few of these diving in Akumal. Appears to be a blenny of some sort. 20m and shallower, they had holes in the sand, but each of the holes were surrounded by what looked like rocks and dead coral and other detritus. The ones I saw were under 8" or so at most, but I wasn't really paying too much attention. They'd sit with their heads just poking out of the sand, and when they saw you they'd back into their hole. Was able to get fairly close as was on CCR.

Looking for the common and latin name if anybody's got a book handy?

 

[knotical]

Without a picture it's tough, but my first guess would be one of the jawfishes. Most are smaller, but the banded jawfish (Opistognathus macrognathus) goes to about 6 inches.

 

[JohnnyC]

WOW!!! Good call! It's either that or it's a closely related cousin! Thanks a bunch! I'll try and snag a picture next time.

 

[redacted]

Another candidate would be a Sand Tilefish. But neither meet all the specs. Jawfish are on the order of 3 to 4 inches and do not move rocks and dead coral, just sand. But they do sit with just their head out of the hole. Tilefish build their homes with rock and dead coral but are 1 ft + in size. Also, they tend to hover above their holes or disappear in them when closely approached.

 

[JohnnyC]

Another candidate would be a Sand Tilefish. But neither meet all the specs. Jawfish are on the order of 3 to 4 inches and do not move rocks and dead coral, just sand. But they do sit with just their head out of the hole. Tilefish build their homes with rock and dead coral but are 1 ft + in size. Also, they tend to hover above their holes or disappear in them when closely approached.

Definitely not a sand tilefish. Shape and color looks exactly like the jawfish knotical mentioned. The only thing I can't be sure of is whether or not it had the banding. I was a little occupied doing boom drills and bailout drills so it was more a passing observation. There was definitely detritus surrounding the holes though, that's what initially drew me to them.