English Name: Japanese snakeblenny
Family: BLENNIIDAE
Local Name: Harufa funna
Order: Perciformes
Size: Max. 30 cm
Specimen: MRS/P0334/88
Distinctive Characters: Extremely long and thin. Dorsal fin with 11 spines and 99-104 rays. Anal fin with 2 spines and 97-104 rays. Pectoral fin with 10-1 I rays. Pelvic fin with 1 spine and 3 rays.
Colour: Brown. Front part of anal fin white distally.
Habitat and Biology: Lives in tubes on sandy bottoms.
Distribution: Indo-Pacific.
Remarks: Xiphasia matsuharai is a very unusual blenny, superficially more like an eel than a blenny. The specimen on which this record is based was caught by hand net in Male harbour in July 1988.