A new species of fish was recently discovered off islands surrounding the Great Barrier Reef. The Bluestriped Fangblenny, or Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos has remained undiscovered until recently due to its fascinating ability to change colour and mimic other coral reef fishes. The Bluestriped Fangblenny makes use of its unique ability through the predation of fish that under normal surcumstances would be many times to large for them to predate on.
This ability to change colour is also used by the fangblenny to avoid predation from some carnivorous reef fishes as well as mimic juvenile cleaner fish. Although it normally will not attack the species of fish that the cleaner fish clean (to avoid being attacked by the cleaner fish), it will attack passing reef fish instead and proceed to feed off that larger fish by nipping away at fins and scales. The ability to change colour may not be a unique trait in the underwater kingdom, but the most fascinating part about this fish is that it is the first example of a veterbrate that has the ability to change its colour at will to mimic other fish.
Until now the fangblenny was even able to avoid notice from UQ scientists who wasted no time disecting these fascinating little creatures to find out just what allows them to mimic other fish so accurately. After disecting the Bluestriped fangblenny's, UQ scientists found that these fish had "colour vision," a rather rare trait in fish. It is thought that the fishes ability to see different colours may be what allows Fangblenny's to initiate colour change and resemble other fish so accurately.
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