Smith`s Fangblenny Royalty-Free Stock Photo

This species is known from Maldive Islands and Sri Lanka to Andaman Islands, Thailand and Indonesia in the Eastern Indian Ocean. It is also reported from the Chagos Archipelago. Meiacanthus are distinguished by having grooved dentary canines and associated glands. They are unique among fishes in having highly specialized toxic buccal glands. Species have a well-developed swim bladder and reduced vulnerability to predation that allows them to feed in the water column and forage over a wide area. This species is engaged in mimetic relationships with Plagiotremus phenax and Scolopsis bilineatus, involving Aggressive, Mullerian and Batesian mimicry.