Black Blenny - a new record for Norfolk Island

Out on A Swim

‘Out on a swim’ is a coral reef blog that tells the stories of the characters who live under the waves and what has caught my eye when ‘out on a swim’ in the lagoons of Norfolk Island. It is also a record of the difficulties Norfolk Island’s reef faces, like many others around the world, as a result of the poor water quality that has been allowed to flow onto it.

This page shows the most recent blog posts. For the complete catalogue, visit the ‘Out on a swim index’ page.

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DAY 25 – MARCH FOCUS ON NORFOLK ISLAND’S REEF

Today’s post is to highlight how little we still know about Norfolk Island’s reef.

Below is a copy of the Australian Fishes journal post about new fish sightings on Norfolk Island. You can find the original post here: Black Blenny - a new record for Norfolk Island

Author: Mark McGrouther, Senior Fellow at the Australian Museum.

This small fish in the image above was photographed by Susan Prior (@susanprior) in Slaughter Bay, Norfolk Island. Susan couldn’t identify the fish so she uploaded the observation identified simply as a ‘Ray-finned Fish’ to the Australasian Fishes Project.

Francois Libert (@francoislibert) subsequently correctly identified it to family, then Malcolm Francis (@francism) tentatively identified it as a Black Blenny, Enchelyurus ater. Malcolm tagged me for my input, so I referred the observation to Australian Museum Senior Fellow, Doug Hoese who confirmed Malcolm’s tentative identification.

Malcolm was particularly interested in Susan’s observation because for some years he has maintained a checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk and Kermadec Islands. Malcolm noted that the Black Blenny had not previously been recorded from Norfolk Island.

This observation highlights the power of citizen scientists working with professional ichthyologists to achieve important outcomes. It also illustrates the fact that users shouldn’t be afraid to upload observations of fishes that they can’t identify. Most of the time someone will step up to the plate with an identification.

Thanks to everyone involved in bringing this new record to light.

Comments to the above post

Posted by francism: This is not Susan Prior's (@susanprior) first new fish record from Norfolk Island. In the past month alone she has recorded three new fish records for the island that I will be including the next time I update the checklist. A big thank you to Susan for her excellent observations! Thanks also to my Australian fish colleagues, Doug Hoese and Mark McGrouther (@markmcg) for their help with identification.

Susan's other recent new fish records are the sabre squirrelfish (Sargocentron spiniferum) and dusky wrasse (Halichoeres marginatus).

Posted by markmcg: Thanks for your excellent comment @francism.

Susan has made a terrific contribution to our knowledge of the fish fauna of Norfolk Island. She has found a total of eleven new fish records from the island (list below). For more details, see her blog post.

Banded sergeant - Abudefduf septemfasciatus
Wartylip mullet - Crenimugil crenilabis
Marbled parrotfish - Leptoscarus vaigiensis
Dot-and-dash Goatfish - Parupeneus barberinus
Bluebarred Parrotfish - Scarus ghobban
Palenose parrotfish - Scarus psittacus
Yellowtail barracuda - Sphyraena flavicauda
Hornpike Long Tom - Strongylura leiurus
Dusky wrasse - Halichoeres marginatus
Sabre squirrelfish - Sargocentron spiniferum
Black Blenny - Enchelyurus ater

September 6, 2026

Watching El Niño from Norfolk Island

El Niño is strengthening across the Pacific, but that does not tell us exactly what the coming months will bring to Norfolk Island. After a long wet spell, I am watching our rainfall and water supplies more closely again – and, underwater, keeping an eye on sea temperature, algae, coral recruits and the fish that turn up on the reef.

September 2, 2026

What the world’s reefs are telling Norfolk Island

Two major new coral reef reports carry a clear message for Norfolk Island: reefs can recover when pressures ease, but the time available for recovery is shrinking. Norfolk Islanders were raising concerns about water quality, runoff and the health of Emily and Slaughter Bays nearly forty years ago. Today we have much better science, a changing climate and a far clearer understanding of how closely the catchment and reef are connected. This article looks at what that means for water quality, long-term monitoring, dredging and how we manage Kingston from land to sea.

August 25, 2026

When the map changes

A fish once thought to belong only to Norfolk turns up elsewhere; another appears here hundreds of kilometres beyond its known range. Cardinalfishes and a Sabre squirrelfish show how our maps of species distributions are revised.

August 24, 2026

Endemic, native, undescribed – what do these words actually mean?

A Norfolk chromis that turned out not to be Chromis fumea, a blenny found nowhere else, and a tiny goby that may not yet have a name. A look at what we mean by native, endemic, undescribed and newly described – and why scientific names sometimes change.

August 16, 2026

What’s grazing in the green stuff?

A proliferation of Bryopsis on the reef has brought some beautiful little underwater grazers with it. I follow the trail from sap-sucking sea slugs and egg masses to a bigger question – why is there so much Bryopsis around at the moment?

August 8, 2026

The clam beneath Emily Bay

I’ve seen the beautiful shells of Laciolina chloroleuca in Emily Bay for decades, but I’d never really stopped to wonder where the living animals were. It turns out they may be buried half a metre beneath the sand. A closer look at an easily overlooked clam, its extraordinary shell markings, and the hidden life beneath our lagoon.

August 1, 2026

Reflections of an accidental marine scientist

What I thought would be a steady plod towards retirement, with plenty of time spent nursing grandchildren, was abruptly upended exactly six years ago today. This is the story of how an environmental catastrophe changed the course of my life – and led me to reinvent myself. It is a reflection on how, and why, I became an accidental marine scientist.

July 24, 2026

From ridge to reef: unpicking the Waterway and Wetland Strategy

Norfolk Island’s draft Waterway and Wetland Strategy will guide work for the next ten years. I support its intent, but it needs to be clear, practical and measurable – joining the dots from ridge to reef so we know whether public money is improving water quality and helping the reef.

July 13, 2026

Reef reality in pictures

Let the pictures do the talking. This is the reality on Norfolk Island’s reef today, laid out in a two-minute video.

June 28, 2026

The red seaweed behind low-methane beef

A small red seaweed on Norfolk’s reef has become part of a much bigger story. Asparagopsis taxiformis can look like a delicate red feather duster or, at another stage of its life cycle, like a tiny cottony pom-pom. It is beautiful, easily overlooked, and now being used in the cattle industry to help reduce methane emissions. This post looks at the reef oddity behind the low-methane beef story – and why repeated local observation can be more useful than it first appears.