''Lucayablennius zingaro'', the arrow blenny, is a species of chaenopsid blenny found in

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

s around the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, 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 ...

. It can reach a maximum length of 5.7 cm (2.2 in). This species is the only known member of its

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Habitat

The arrow blenny can be found in costal

s near the

, and western

. Their range extends as far west as the western side of the

Yucatán peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...

, as far north as the

Florida keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

, and as far south as the eastern tip of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Their depth range is typically 13 to 106 meters (42.6 to 347.7 ft).

Description

The arrow blenny is truly unique among blennys regarding their appearance. They have an elongated pointed snout which they use for catching prey. Their coloration is typically a cinnamon red or brown which fades to yellow towards the tail. They have three stripes, one white one on the top center of the head ending at the base of 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 conv ...

, and one on each side starting at the front of the eyes and running to the base of the

caudal 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 se ...

. Both of these side stripes start white and fade to yellow. They also have black spots, three on the rear of the dorsal fin and two on the rear of the

anal 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 se ...

. Their tail, being truly unique, is always held at a curve. So much so that the tail is facing the same direction as the head. This tail curve allows the fish to catch small

currents Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (stre ...

in the

water column A water column is a conceptual column of water from the surface of a sea, river or lake to the bottom sediment.Munson, B.H., Axler, R., Hagley C., Host G., Merrick G., Richards C. (2004).Glossary. ''Water on the Web''. University of Minnesota-D ...

References

* Böhlke, J. E. 1957 (26 July) A review of the blenny genus ''Chaenopsis'', and the description of a related new genus from the Bahamas. ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia v. 109: 81-103, Pls. 5-6.'' * Böhlke, J. E. 1958 (21 Feb.) Substitute names for ''Nystactes'' Böhlke and ''Lucaya'' Böhlke, preoccupied. ''Copeia 1958 (no. 1): 59.''

External links

* arrow blenny Fish of the Caribbean arrow blenny Taxa named by Eugenia Brandt Böhlke {{Chaenopsidae-stub