''Climacoporus navalis'', the fleet klipfish, is a species of

clinid Clinidae is a family of marine fish in the order Blenniiformes within the series Ovalentaria, part of the Percomorpha . Temperate blennies, the family ranges from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, in both the Southern and Northern Hemis ...

found in subtropical waters of the

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 ...

along the coast of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

where it can be found in

tide pools A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only at low tide. Many tide pool habitats are home to especially adaptable animals that ...

. This species can reach a maximum length of TL. It is currently the only known member of its

genus 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 nom ...

Description

*Fins:

Dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

spines 33 to 38, rays 0 to 1; Anal fin spines 2, rays 22 to 24;

Pectoral fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

rays 12;

Ventral fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two ...

spines 1, rays 2 to 3. *

Gill rakers Gill rakers in fish are bony or cartilaginous processes that project from the branchial arch (gill arch) and are involved with suspension feeding tiny prey. They are not to be confused with the gill filaments that compose the fleshy part of t ...

(1 to 2)+5. *

Vertebrae The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...

15+(27to 29). * Lateral line with about 80 double pores. * Body depth 5 to 6.25 in Standard length. * Head length 4 to 5.25 in Standard length. *Eye 3 to 4 diameters in head length. *

Caudal peduncle Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as see ...

25 to 33.5% head length, depth 25 to 33.5% head length. Shape: The body is elongate and moderately compressed. Profile of the head is slightly convex. The caudal peduncle is short. There is a pair of prominent, transversely flattened, palmate tentacles above the eyes. The mouth has thick lips and is a band of smaller teeth behind the front row in both jaws, with a curved band of teeth on the

vomer The vomer (; lat, vomer, lit=ploughshare) is one of the unpaired facial bones of the skull. It is located in the midsagittal line, and articulates with the sphenoid, the ethmoid, the left and right palatine bones, and the left and right max ...

. The dorsal fin is low, even and without cirri at the tips of the dorsal spines. The 1st to 4th spines are more widely spaced than the rest. The third ray of the pelvic (ventral) fin is reduced or absent. The cirri on the front nostrils are small and flap-like, slightly emarginate below the apex. Colour: The fish can be reddish or maroon-brown, or yellow-brown to greenish, streaked, mottled or barred irregularly with darker green or brown and may have a cream belly. The head is green or reddish brown. There is an oval dark ocellus with a pale border between the start of the lateral line and the 2nd or 3rd dorsal spines, a dark band across base of the caudal fin, followed by 2 narrower bands and a few irregular spots. The edge of the anal fin is pale. Size: Attains .

Distribution

Still Bay to Port St. Johns.

Habitat

This species is quite abundant in rock pools.

Etymology

Navalis: of or relating to ships, referring to the location where first specimen was caught, a ship in Simon's Town harbour.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2480236 Clinidae Fish described in 1935 Monotypic fish genera Taxa named by Keppel Harcourt Barnard Fish of the Atlantic Ocean