''Acanthemblemaria maria'', the secretary blenny, is a species of chaenopsid blenny found in shallow seas in the western central

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. It can reach a maximum length of TL.

Description

''Acanthemblemaria maria'' is a slender, elongated fish with a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of but a more normal length is . The long, continuous dorsal fin has 29 to 40 rays, the flexible spines usually being more numerous than the soft rays. This fish is very variable in colouring; it has whitish vertical stripes or patches on a usually brown background, and an irregular speckling of tiny spots. The large eyes are surrounded by yellowish-green orbital rings and the cheeks often bear a spot of blue or brown above a white band. Over the eyes are spines and tufts of branching, supraorbital

cirri Giovanni Battista Cirri (1 October 1724 – 11 June 1808) was an Italian cellist and composer in the 18th century. Biography Cirri was born in Forlì in the Emilia-Romagna Region of Italy. He had his first musical training with his brother ...

Distribution and habitat

''Acanthemblemaria maria'' occurs in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean. Its range includes the Bahamas, and in the Caribbean Sea it extends from Grand Cayman in Hispaniola to

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, as well as from Belize to Panama. It has been reported from Curaçao, but that is probably a case of mistaken identity. It is absent from the Gulf of Mexico and from the coasts of Florida and Brazil. Its depth range is down to about and it tends not to be found on patch reefs, preferring limestone slopes.

Ecology

''Acanthemblemaria maria'' lives in a burrow, a hollow in the rock, a crevice, a hole in a colonial

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

, an empty mollusc shell or an empty serpulid worm tube. It is often associated with small

brain coral Brain coral is a common name given to various corals in the families Mussidae and Merulinidae, so called due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles a brain. Each head of coral is formed by a colony of genetically ...

s, sea fans,

sea whip Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...

s and

sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

s. It is an ambush predator, remaining concealed in its lair with only its head projecting, until a

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

or other small invertebrate prey approaches. At this stage, it darts out, grabs the prey and retreats into its home. The eggs are laid in the lair and are tended by the male, the female taking no part in their care.

Status

This is a common species with a wide distribution. No particular threats have been identified and there are no special conservation measures in place. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the fish's conservation status as being of "

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

is an

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

which honours James Erwin Böhlke's former secretary at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Mary George, this is also acknowledged in the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

of secretary blenny.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2429612 maria Fish of the Caribbean secretary blenny Taxa named by James Erwin Böhlke