Salaria pavo (Temperate water)

Salaria pavo, commonly known as the Peacock blenny, is a medium-sized blenny. And what a beauty this is! Their base colour ranges from beige to yellow, but the head and belly are bright yellow and the dorsal fin ranges from red to blue in adult males. They have metallic blue vertical stripes and spots and when mature the males develop multiple humps on their head.

Sounds like an excellent alternative for the more dull coloured Salarias right? Unfortunately these fish prefer mollusks over algae, making it of little use as an algae eater. On top of that they are a temperate water species, not very suitable to keep on tropical temperatures year round, but a real showpiece for a temperate water tank. They can be kept in brackish water as well and in nature they often swim into rivers all the way to a salinity of 5 ppt.

They're quite territorial though, so best place them as one of the last fishes in the tank and only in a tank big enough to form a territory and leave room for the other fishes. Don't combine them with other blennies, unless you've a very large tank with many hiding spots.