THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

at any soft baits intended for bigger
fish, sometimes even managing to take
them inside the mouth if the hook is
small enough.
But beware its teeth; a small fish which
can give quite a nasty nip as I know to
my cost at a number of locations where
I have caught them, including Lundy,
Anglesey, and while wrasse fishing in
and around Luce Bay.
As with the other blennies, colouration
is variable according to location.
Normally it will be some shade of
brown with green and yellowish
patches or spots, and five or six darker vertical bars. Males in breeding livery will be darker still with
conspicuous lighter coloured lips. Its feeding takes in a wide range of small invertebrates including
quite large numbers of barnacles. Grows to around six inches.
BUTTERFLY BLENNY Blennius ocellaris
Bucket List status – no result yet
As with the other blenny species, a
powerful thick set little fish with both
its dorsal fins merging into one
continuous run, and a face which is
blunt and rounded with noticeably big
lips.
A visually striking fish which will
immediately stand out as something out
of the ordinary due to the height of its
first dorsal fin section, this being
marked just beyond the midway point
by an extremely obvious dark blotch
edged in white.
As with the tompot blenny, there are
short ragged tentacles above each eye. General body colouration varies between brown and grey with
several darker vertical bars on the upper sides extending on to the dorsal fin.
Not a fish likely to be caught by shore anglers fishing for wrasse on account of its offshore preference
for water in the thirty to sixty foot range, though this could include deep water harbours right down the
face of the concrete walls.
A fish more likely found in and around the western approaches, south west Ireland, and the Channel
Islands, over mixed ground with some areas of coarse sand or grit where it feeds on whatever small
invertebrates it can find that will fit into its mouth. Grows to around eight inches.
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