🐠 Harptail Blenny (Meiacanthus mossambicus)
A Golden-Green Body With a Jet-Black Dorsal Fin • A Distinctive Forked, Harp-Shaped Yellow Tail • One of the Most Peaceful Fang Blennies Available
 
📋 The Harptail Blenny, also known as the Mozambique Fangblenny, has an elegant golden-green body with a shadow of green above the eye running beneath a jet-black dorsal fin, and a distinctive forked, harp-shaped yellow tail with long trailing streamers.
It comes from the Western Indian Ocean, ranging along the coast of Africa around Mozambique, uncommon in the wild trade but frequently available as hardy, affordable captive-bred stock. Every Harptail Blenny we ship is feeding well.
Like other Meiacanthus fang blennies, this species carries a pair of small, venomous canine teeth used purely for self-defence, a clever survival trick, since a predator that swallows it will get bitten from the inside and spit it back out completely unharmed. For aquarium keepers this poses essentially no real risk, though hand feeding and handling without gloves still isn't recommended. It's considered one of the most peaceful species in the entire Meiacanthus genus, generally posing little threat to other tankmates aside from fish of similar shape and colour. One quirk worth knowing: this species can shift to a duller colouration when stressed, and it may take some time after introduction to regain its full, vibrant colour. It reaches up to 10cm, so a 115L tank suits it well.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Golden-Green Body With Harp-Shaped Tail: Elegant, distinctive colouration
😌 One of the Most Peaceful Fang Blennies: Rarely bothers other tankmates
⚠️ Mildly Venomous, Not Dangerous: Defensive bite only, no real risk to keepers
🌿 Fully Reef Safe: Won't harm corals or invertebrates
✨ Frequently Captive-Bred: Hardy, affordable, and readily available stock