Species: Scartella cristata, Molly Miller, Molly Miller Blenny

Scartella cristata (Linnaeus, 1758)

Molly Miller, Molly Miller Blenny

Body elongate; head relatively high, with steep snout profile; cirrus over front nostril, eye and a row of cirri along each side of nape; no fleshy crest on head; many movable teeth on each jaw, no teeth on front of roof of mouth, a stout canine at rear of lower jaw; lips not enlarged, lower surface of top lip all smooth; gill openings broad, forming a fold across throat; dorsal fin with shallow notch between spiny and soft parts, XII spines, last one of moderate size, 14-15 rays; anal fin II, 16-17; fin rays unbranched, except on tail fin; lateral line is a short arch over pectoral, ending under end of spiny dorsal; no scales.

Dull green to olive, sometimes quite dark; head with a dark blotch behind eye, 2 dark bars under eye; nape cirri red and white; body with dark brown double-bars that extend onto dorsal fin, sometimes mixed with pearly spots along upper back and upper head; sometimes upper part of bars reddish and a dark brown stripe along midline; a dark spot at front of dorsal fin; fish entirely yellow when on Sargassum rafts

Reaches 10 cm.

Lives in tidepools and shallow rocky areas, often in empty barnacles; also occasionally on Sargassum rafts.

Depth range: 0-20 m, usually in < 10 m.

E and W Atlantic and the Mediterraneuan. Florida to northern Brazil.