The western jumping blenny (''Lepidoblennius marmoratus'') is a species of

triplefin Threefin or triplefin blennies are blenniiforms, small percomorph marine fish of the family Tripterygiidae. Found in tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, the family contains about 150 species in 30 genera. Th ...

blenny in the genus ''

Lepidoblennius ''Lepidoblennius'' is a genus of triplefins in the family Tripterygiidae. Both species occur in Australia. Species There are currently two species in the genus ''Lepidoblennius'': * Eastern jumping blenny, '' Lepidoblennius haplodactylus'' St ...

''. It was first described by

William John Macleay Sir William John Macleay (13 June 1820 – 7 December 1891) was a Scottish-Australian politician, Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. Early life Macleay was born at Wick, Highland, Wick, Caithness, Scotland, ...

in 1878.

Description

The western jumping blenny has a body which is slightly compressed and has a steep snout and a naked head, with no scales. The body is coloured greyish to greenish-grey paler underneath. It is marked with dark vertical lines on the head, lines of small dark spots on the

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

caudal Caudal may refer to: Anatomy * Caudal (anatomical term) (from Latin ''cauda''; tail), used to describe how close something is to the trailing end of an organism * Caudal artery, the portion of the dorsal aorta of a vertebrate that passes into the ...

and

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 ...

s and there are irregular blotches along the flanks. It grows to a maximum

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

of . The western jumping blenny is identified from the

allopatric Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...

but

congeneric Congener may refer to: * A thing or person of the same kind as another, or of the same group. * Congener (biology), organisms within the same genus. * Congener (chemistry), related chemicals, e.g., elements in the same group of the periodic table. ...

eastern jumping blenny The eastern jumping blenny (''Lepidoblennius haplodactylus'') is a species of triplefin blenny in the genus ''Lepidoblennius''. It was described by Franz Steindachner in 1867 and is the type species of the genus ''Lepidoblennius''. Description ...

by having a deep incision between the last spine of the first dorsal fin and the first spine of the second dorsal fin, as well as having two spines in 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 ...

while the eastern has none.

Distribution

The western jumping blenny is

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 elsew ...

to Australia where it occurs on the west and south coasts from 32° south in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

off

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Its northernmost locality is the Swan River.

Habitat and biology

The western jumping blenny is found in tidal pools and in rocky subtidal and intertidal areas. It occurs where there are algal covered rocks. They occur at depths of . They are frequently encountered out of the water but they can easily return to the water by flicking their tail.

Etymology and taxonomy

William John Macleay described this species in 1878 with a type locality of

King George Sound King George Sound ( nys , Menang Koort) is a sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came into use ...

, Western Australia. The generic name means "scaled blenny" while 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 ...

''marmoratus'' means "marbled" in reference to the yellowish colour mottled with black.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1818811 Western jumping blenny Fish described in 1878