One of the more interesting species featured in the May/June 2025 issue of CORAL Magazine, JAW-DROPPING JAWFISHES, is Stalix histrio. Commonly known as the Harlequin or Black Marble Jawfish, it has since gained a newer common name, the Mimic Jawfish.
The story goes back to 2011, when Godehard Kopp recorded a peculiar interaction between the fish, currently considered by some to be Stalix histrio, and the Mimic Octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus. The footage revealed this small, benthic jawfish actively swimming alongside the much larger octopus. That jawfish’s coloration allows it to blend in seamlessly with the octopus, itself famous for mimicking venomous marine organisms like lionfishes and sea snakes.
In 2012, Dr. Luiz Rocha and colleagues published a short article titled “Opportunistic mimicry by a Jawfish” in the journal Springer Nature Link. The paper explains that researchers believe this is opportunistic mimicry because the jawfish is far more widely ranging than the octopus species. As such, this mimicry can’t occur in areas where the octopus is absent.
That said, later reporting suggests that the fish we know as the Mimic Jawfish and call Stalix histrio may not belong to that taxon. With the passing of Dr. Smith-Vaniz, the world’s foremost expert in jawfish taxonomy, the true taxonomic identity of the Mimic Jawfish remains a question that has been posed but not yet answered.
Watch Video Footage of the Unique MImic Jawfish Mimicking The Mimic Octopus Mimicking…
