Sailfish blenny in the Gulf of Mexico
The latin name of the Sailfish Blenny is Emblemaria pandionis. She has 1 to 2 inches length. Photo made during a diving cruise in the Gulf of Mexico on the site of Stetson Bank in July 2007 by 80 feet of depth. We had decided to dedicate the whole week end to photography this fish to complete our stock of photographs of the Gulf of Mexico. The first dive was just to find some holes sheltering Blennies. It is by the end of the third dive that we succeeded to take some photographs with a Blenny out of its hole. These fish are so scared that they live permanently in their hole. Sometimes they show their head out of the hole by curiosity and with a little chance, they leave brutally while agitating its body before going back quickly in their hole. This photo was taken with a 105mm which enabled us to remain at a distance from safety not to frighten him. To take a such shot, we remained stabilized during 20 minutes (without counting the previous dives). This type of photo requests a very great patience. The next time, we will try to photograph a female which is much clearer with a white belly.
