Blacktail Comber

Approaching a blacktail comber requires slow, deliberate movements and excellent neutral buoyancy. These fish are relatively bold due to their territorial nature, but sudden fin kicks or rapid descents will cause them to dart into the nearest dark crevice. Hover a few feet above the substrate to avoid disturbing the benthic environment, particularly in delicate rocky or coralligenous zones. For underwater photographers, a standard macro lens (60mm) or a close-focus wide-angle setup is ideal for capturing their intricate fin patterning and piercing eyes. Utilise dual strobes positioned outward to prevent backscatter and properly illuminate the subtle blue highlights and deep red hues of their flanks. Always respect the fish's space; if it flares its dorsal spines or backs deeper into a recess, maintain your distance.

The optimal window for diving with blacktail combers spans the warmer months from June to October. In the Azores and Madeira, summer brings peak underwater visibility, calmer sea conditions, and higher water temperatures averaging 21–24°C, which encourages active foraging across volcanic reefs. Across the Canary Islands, the species can be reliably observed year-round, although late summer and autumn (August to November) offer the most comfortable diving conditions. In the Mediterranean waters around the Strait of Gibraltar and southern Spain, May to September provides excellent sea state stability and exceptional clarity along rocky reefs and vertical walls.

The blacktail comber inhabits warm-temperate and subtropical marine environments, favouring shallow to moderately deep rocky reefs, boulder fields, drop-offs, and seagrass (*Posidonia oceanica*) meadows. It occupies a depth range extending from shallow coastal shallows around 5 metres down to approximately 150 metres, though it is most frequently encountered by divers between 10 and 40 metres. Geographically, the waters this animal calls home encompass the eastern Atlantic Ocean—particularly the Macaronesian archipelagos of the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, and the Savage Islands—as well as the south-western coast of the Iberian Peninsula and the south-western Mediterranean Sea around the Alboran Sea.

The blacktail comber is an opportunistic ambush carnivore with a diet dominated by small benthic invertebrates and small teleost fishes. Its primary prey items include decapod crustaceans such as small crabs, cleaner shrimps, and mysids, alongside juvenile wrasses, gobies, and damselfishes. Utilising its cryptic coloration to blend seamlessly into algae-covered rocks and volcanic basalt, the comber perches motionless on its pelvic fins or lurks near the entrance of a crevice. When an unsuspecting target ventures within striking distance, the fish delivers a lightning-fast forward lunge, using its wide gape and vacuum suction to engulf the prey whole. Feeding activity takes place throughout the daylight hours but peaks during dawn and dusk crepuscular periods when reef prey is actively shifting between shelters.