The blacksmith is a fish native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. Its range is from Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay

Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, to central Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. The blacksmith reaches a maximum size of 25 cm and is dark blue.The blacksmith is symbiotic with the senorita fish. When it feels that it is starting to deteriorate in hygiene it will turn until it is perpendicular to the ground. The senorita fish will then commence cleaning the blacksmith. Not only does the senorita get a meal, but the blacksmith gets groomed. So this helps both the senorita and the blacksmith. These are small, marine, reef-associated fish.

Physical description

Blacksmiths have dark blue-black colored bodies with small black spots towards the tail and large scales. Young fish (to 5cm), are two-tone with a bluey-grey front and a brownish-orange rear. They have forked tails.

Distribution

They are found in the eastern Pacific from Monterey Bay, California to Baja California, Mexico.

Habitat

They live near to the sea bed over rocks, especially steep banks, to depths of 46m. They also inhabit kelp

Kelp

Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....

 beds.

Behaviour

The blacksmith rests in rocky crevices during the night. They are known to be territorial

Territory (animal)

In ethology the term territory refers to any sociographical area that an animal of a particular species consistently defends against conspecifics...

 and, although small, act aggressively towards other fish. Young fish are pelagic and form schools

Shoaling and schooling

In biology, any group of fish that stay together for social reasons are said to be shoaling , and if, in addition, the group is swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner, they are said to be schooling . In common usage, the terms are sometimes used rather loosely...

.

Reproduction

Blacksmiths spawn during summer and autumn. The male cleans a nesting site, then herds a female to it. After spawning, the male guards the eggs

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

until they hatch.