The tompot blenny (''Parablennius gattorugine'') is a species of combtooth blenny from the north eastern Atlantic Ocean which is found in shallow, coastal waters off western Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Description

The tompot blenny is a relatively large blenny with an elongated body, large head and large eyes which grows to up to in length. The eyes are bicoloured with their top part being brown and the bottom part is white. There is a single branched tentacle over each of its eyes. It is mainly yellow-brown in colour, although occasionally it is greenish and is marked with at least seven dark bars starting at the dorsal fin and which reach the belly. As well as the tentacles over the eyes there are also tentacles over the nostrils. The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

is continuous but becomes broken towards the tail. The breeding males become chocolate brown in colour and develop bulb-like glands on the spines 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 ...

. The dorsal fin runs the length of its body and is divided into two halves by a shallow notch. The anterior portion of the fin is contains the spiny rays while the posterior portion contains the soft rays. The dorsal fin has 13-14 spines and 17-20 ray while the anal fin has 2 spines and 19-23 rays. It has relatively large pectoral fins. Each individual has a unique set of markings on the scales of the face which mean that studies of their biology can identify individuals.

Distribution

The tompot blenny is found along the Atlantic coast of Europe from southern England and Ireland to Morocco. It is also found throughout the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. In Great Britain it is mainly recorded off the south and west coasts and is largely absent from the North Sea coasts, although it has been seen on wrecks off the

North Norfolk North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer. The population at the 2011 Census was 101,149. History The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It was a ...

coast. and off eastern Scotland as far north as the

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

Capillaria bainae Justine & Radujkovic 1988 Figure 2G & 2H

Habitat and biology

Habitat

Tompot blennies are very

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

and their territories are centred around a crevice in the rocky reef which the fish uses for shelter. They occur in shallow seas at depths of although smaller specimens occur in rockpools. They may be found above the low tide mark at very low tides, sheltering under boulders or among exposed vegetation.

Feeding

Tompot blennies have sharp, comb-like teeth which they use to scrape food from the substrate. They feed on

sea anemone Sea anemones are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates of the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classifi ...

s and on other invertebrates such as prawns and other

crustacea Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

ns. They are

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...

, being active mainly at dawn and at dusk.

Parasites

As most fish, tompot blennies harbour several species of parasites, including the capillariid

Nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

Pseudocapillaria bainae ''Pseudocapillaria'' is a genus of nematodes belonging to the family Capillariidae. The genus has almost cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range of a taxon that extends across all or mo ...

''. This parasite has been found in the intestine of specimens caught off Italy and Montenegro. Its biology is unknown. Parablenniusgattorugine

Breeding

Tompot blennies spawn in March to May the males mate with a number of females and guards their eggs. The eggs are demersal and like those of all blennies they stick to the substrate by a filamentous adhesive patch. The male guards the eggs until the larvae hatch, usually about a month after laying. The males defend their territories from other males and often fight each other, frequently receiving injuries. When breeding the males develop pale

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ''Brassica oleracea'' in the genus ''Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – the ...

like glands on their anal fins which are believed to play a role in attracting females and in cleaning the eggs.

Name

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 ...

was first used by Francis Willughby in 1688 after he had observed these blennies in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and heard them called ''gatto ruggine'' which he translated as "rusty cat" or "rust colour", although he was afraid that he did not fully understand the name. However the actual name is ' or ''gotto rosula'' which is a local name for blennies in general along the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

coast of Italy and which is a diminutive of ''gotto roso'' meaning "thick throat".

Miscellany

In the mid-1990s there was a minor acoustic indie- folk band called Tompot Blenny, who released a few E.P.s in the 1990s and a full album called ''Found under Blankets'' in 2000.

References

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1419990

tompot blenny The tompot blenny (''Parablennius gattorugine'') is a species of combtooth blenny from the north eastern Atlantic Ocean which is found in shallow, coastal waters off western Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa. Description The tompot blen ...

Fish of the Mediterranean Sea Fish of the Black Sea Fish of the Adriatic Sea

Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus