Blenny (from the Greek and , mucus, slime) is a

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 ...

for many types of fish, including several families of percomorph marine, brackish, and some freshwater fish sharing similar morphology and behaviour. Six families are considered "true blennies", grouped under the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Blenniiformes; its members are referred to as blenniiformids. About 151

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

and nearly 900 species have been described within the order. The order was formerly classified as a suborder of the Perciformes but the 5th Edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

'' divided the Perciformes into a number of new orders and the Blenniiformes were placed in the percomorph

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

Ovalentaria alongside the such taxa as Cichliformes, Mugiliformes and

Gobiesociformes Clingfishes are fishes of the family Gobiesocidae, the only family in the order Gobiesociformes. These fairly small to very small fishes are widespread in tropical and temperate regions, mostly near the coast, but a few species in deeper seas or ...

Families

The six "true blenny" families are: * Blenniidae Rafinesque, 1810 -

combtooth blennies Combtooth blennies are blenniiformids; percomorph marine fish of the family Blenniidae, part of the order Blenniiformes. They are the largest family of blennies with around 401 known species in 58 genera. Combtooth blennies are found in tropica ...

, including the sabre-toothed blennies * Chaenopsidae Gill, 1865 - pikeblennies, tubeblennies and flagblennies * Clinidae Swainson, 1839 - clinids, including the giant kelpfish * Dactyloscopidae Gill, 1859 - sand stargazers * Labrisomidae Clark Hubbs, 1952 * Tripterygiidae Whitley, 1931 - threefin blennies

Similarities with other families

The blenniiformids are superficially quite similar to members of the goby and dragonet families, as well as several other unrelated families whose members have occasionally been given the name "blenny". Many blennies demonstrate

mimicry In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry f ...

of other species, such as '' Aspidontus taeniatus''. This mimicry allows the blenny to get up close to fish that would normally let '' Labroides dimidiatus'' (the bluestreak cleaner wrasse), clean them. The blenny then takes nips or larger bites out of the unsuspecting fish. There are two genera of blennies that demonstrate

Batesian mimicry Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, after his work on bu ...

- ''Ecsenius'' and ''Plagiotremus''.

Timeline of genera (Myr)

ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-65.5 till:10 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:-65.5 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-65.5 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify Colors = #legends id:CAR value:claret id:ANK value:rgb(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:cenozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:paleogene value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.32) id:paleocene value:rgb(0.99,0.65,0.37) id:eocene value:rgb(0.99,0.71,0.42) id:oligocene value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.48) id:neogene value:rgb(0.999999,0.9,0.1) id:miocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.999999,0) id:pliocene value:rgb(0.97,0.98,0.68) id:quaternary value:rgb(0.98,0.98,0.5) id:pleistocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.95,0.68) id:holocene value:rgb(0.999,0.95,0.88) BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:NAM2 bar:NAM3 bar:NAM4 bar:NAM5 bar:space bar:period bar:space bar:era PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4) bar:periodtop from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text: Paleocene from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text: Eocene from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text: Miocene from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Plio. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text: Pleist. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:eratop from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q. PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left color:eocene bar:NAM1 from: -55.8 till: 0 text:

Exallias ''Exallias brevis'', the leopard blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian oceans. This species reaches a length of TL. This species can be found in the aquarium trade. It is the only known membe ...

color:miocene bar:NAM2 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Clinus color:miocene bar:NAM3 from: -11.608 till: 0 text:

Blennius ''Blennius'' is a Genus of combtooth blenny in the family Blenniidae. Its members include ''Blennius ocellaris'', the Butterfly Blenny. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: *'' Blennius normani'' Poll, 1949 *'' B ...

color:miocene bar:NAM4 from: -11.608 till: 0 text:

Labrisomus ''Labrisomus'' is a genus of labrisomid blennies native to the western Atlantic ocean and the eastern Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently 11 recognized species in this genus: * ''Labrisomus conditus'' I. Sazima ( fr), Carvalho-Filho, ...

color:miocene bar:NAM5 from: -11.608 till: 0 text:

Tripterygion ''Tripterygion'' is a genus of fish in the family (biology), family threefin blenny, Tripterygiidae, the threefin blennies, the species of which are found in the north eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. Species * ' ...

PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text: Paleocene from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text: Eocene from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q.

Morphology

Blenniformids are generally small fish-only occasionally reaching lengths up to 55 cm, with elongated bodies (some almost eel-like), and relatively large eyes and mouths. Their dorsal fins are often continuous and long; the pelvic fins typically have a single embedded spine and are short and slender, situated before the pectoral fins. The tail fin is rounded. The blunt heads of blenniiformids often possess elaborate whisker-like structures called cirri.

Behavior and feeding

As generally

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...

fish, blenniiformids spend much of their time on or near the sea floor; many are reclusive and may burrow in sandy substrates or inhabit crevices in reefs, the lower stretches of rivers, or even empty

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

shells. Some blennies, otherwise known as "rock-hoppers", leap from the water onto rocks in order to reach other pools.Böhlke, J., C. Chaplin. 1994. ''Fishes of the Bahamas and Adjacent Tropical Waters''. Wynnewood, Pa: Published for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia by Livingston.Helfman, G., B. Collete, D. Facey. 1997. ''The Diversity of Fishes''. Malden, MA: Blackwell.Moyle, P., J. Cech. 2000. ''Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology – fourth edition''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Springer, V. 1994. Blennies. Pp. 214-217 in W Eschmeyer, J Paxton, eds. ''Encyclopedia of Fishes – second edition''. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. As far as predation, blennies depend on a secretive lifestyle, hiding on the sea floors in shallow water, with cryptic coloration.

Venom

For protection, there is only one genus that is truly venomous, namely ''

Meiacanthus ''Meiacanthus'' is a genus of combtooth blennies found in the western Pacific and Indian oceans. Many species in this genus make their way into the aquarium trade and several are venomous. The genus name ''Meiacanthus'' is derived from the Gre ...

''. These fish can inject venom from their mandibular, hollow fangs. They have venom that contains the opioid-like enkephalin, phospholipase, and neuropeptide Y.Losey GS. 1972. Predation protection in the poison-fang blenny, Meiacanthus atrodorsalis, and its mimics, Ecsenius bicolor and Runula laudandus (Blenniidae). Pac Sci 26(2): 129-139.

Distribution

True blennies are widely distributed in coastal waters, often abundant and easily observed which has made them the subject for many studies of ecology and behaviour. Two of the families, the Blennidae and the Tripterygiidae have global distributions, the Clinidae have a mainly temperate distribution and the remaining three families are largely Neotropical. This distribution makes these fish ideal subjects for studies of

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

. It is thought that the splitting of the Tethys Sea by the formation of the

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country ...

combined with Pliocene warming of the climate may have been important factors influencing the evolution and biogeography of the Blenniiformes.

Gallery

File:Salarias sinuosus (Fringelip blenny).jpg, ''

Salarias sinuosus ''Salarias sinuosus'', known commonly as the fringelip blenny or the crinkle-lipped blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. This species reaches a length of TL. Description A small fish, with maxi ...

'', the

fringelip blenny ''Salarias sinuosus'', known commonly as the fringelip blenny or the crinkle-lipped blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. This species reaches a length of TL. Description A small fish, with maxi ...

File:Blenny hiding in a hole near Gilli Lawa Laut, Indonesia.JPG, Blenny hiding in a hole near Gilli Lawa Laut, Indonesia File:Ugly dude.jpg,

Tasmanian blenny The Tasmanian blenny (''Parablennius tasmanianus'') is a species of combtooth blenny found in the eastern Indian Ocean (Australia) to Southwest Pacific (New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern P ...

in Port Noarlunga, South Australia File:Blenny in kona 1.jpg, Blenny in

Kona Kona or KONA may refer to: People *Kona (surname) * Dilshad Nahar Kona, Bangladeshi singer also known as Kona Television * ''Kona'' (TV series), a Kenyan telenovela that premiered in 2013 Locations * Kona, Kentucky * Kona, North Carolina * Kon ...

, Hawaii File:Blenny.jpg, Blenny in

, Hawaii File:Blenny in Kona 2008 4.jpg, Blenny in

, Hawaii File:Blenny Hawaii.jpg, Blenny in

, Hawaii File:BulletHead RockSkipper BIGBROW BLENNIELLA.jpg, Bullethead rockskipper in

File:Marbled Blenny Entomacrodus marmoratus.jpg,

Marbled blenny ''Paraclinus marmoratus'', the Marbled blenny, is a species of labrisomid blenny native to the western Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea from southern Florida to Venezuela. This species can be found in shallow wat ...

, ''

Entomacrodus marmoratus ''Entomacrodus marmoratus'', also called marbled blenny or pāo'o in Hawaiian, is a species of blenny endemic to Hawaii. It is commonly found in rocky reefs around the coast of the Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o ...

'' in

References

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q60613116 * Ray-finned fish suborders