''Clinitrachus argentatus'', the cline, 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 shallow waters of the eastern
Atlantic
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 an ...
and the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...
. This species feeds primarily on
benthic invertebrates. This species is currently the only known member of its genus.
Description
''Clinitrachus argentatus'' has a highly elongated oval-shaped, laterally compressed body. There is a ridge on the head behind the eye which is triangular in shape and is attached to branched tentacles.
On the margin of the tube-shaped anterior nostril is another tentacle, and there is a smaller tentacle near the posterior nostril. The
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 ...
has an indentation where the hard spines give way o the softer rays. The colour of the body varies from light grey to dark brown, occasionally it can be purplish, with lines of small silver grey spots along the flanks underneath the
lateral line with more spots scattered above it. The head is patterned with silver grey, the upper part of the head is lighter and there is a star-like pattern around the eye. The fins are the same colour as the body.
This species can reach a maximum length of
TL.
Distribution
''Clinitrachus argentatus'' is almost
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
tithe Mediterranean, occurring throughout that sea to the
Bosphorous
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern T ...
and the
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via t ...
, its range extends through the
Straits of Gibraltar into the eastern Atlantic Ocean along the coasts of southern Spain, southern Portugal and northern Morocco.
Habitat and biology
''Clinitrachus argentatus'' occurs in shallow water among dense algal growths.
It can be found among rocks, in vegetation on harbour walls and dykes.
[ The breeding season is May and June and the males guard egg masses laid by several females.][ It feeds mainly on small invertebrates, the juveniles mainly on copepods while the adults take a wider range of prey including amphipods, isopods, brachyurans and ]polychaete
Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made ...
s.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1469147
Clinidae
Fish described in 1810
Monotypic fish genera