The Fangblenny - The Drug Dealer of the Indo-Pacific Ocean Heroin Highway

Anthony Romilio/University of Queensland

There's a crisis that's devastating rich and poor communities alike all over 'Merica. Opioid abuse, addiction, and widespread death and universal sadness as a result. And now the crisis has reached our oceans. Let me introduce you to the fangblenny (Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos), the pusherman street pharmacist of the Indo-Pacific heroin highway.  The fangblenny may look harmless at only 2-4 inches long with bright cheerful coloring and schoolboy demeanor but this sea-faring candyman has venom glands that contain a shanghai sally/china white/mexican mud/black pearl hormone, enkephalin. Enkephalins, function by targeting the brain's opioid receptor sites and work similarly to synthetic opioid painkillers like fentanyl or oxycodone. 

A CT rendering of a fangblenny
Richard Smith/OceanRealmImages.com

Fangblennys use their fangs as a defense mechanism causing their predator to become disoriented and hypotensive (low blood pressure).  It's been documented that these fish will bite their attacker from the inside causing slack jaw and allowing them to exit like a boss.  Side note, it's still unclear whether it's the enkephalin or another peptide, neuropeptide Y, that's responsible for the disorientation.  Neuopeptide Y, found in cone snail venum, is known to cause severe drops in blood pressure.  

My personal mind research wonders whether fish that feed on the fangblenny purposely don't harm them so they can swallow them and get their h-bomb black tar fix.  Since 60% of the time I am right 100% of the time, I am making a recommendation to the United States Department of Fish and Wildlife to create an initiative to combat and treat fish opioid abuse.  This is vitally important because help for opiate addiction is about more than just treating fish opiate withdrawals, it is about enacting lasting change in our oceans and sending the right message to the baby fishies out there. 

They may look harmless, but this fangblenny will get you highhhhhhhh
http://www.ryanphotographic.com/blenniidae.htm