''Acanthemblemaria'' is a genus of chaenopsid blennies native to the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

Oceans.

Etymology

Acanthemblemaria : Greek, akantha = thorn +

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, emblema, -atos, anything that is nailed, knocked in; also anything with bass or high relief

Description

Body elongated; head short and blunt; pointed or blunt spines on snout, below eye, sometimes on top of head; 2 rows of very well developed teeth on the roof of the mouth; 1 pair of branched or unbranche
cirri
over eyes
cirri
over

nostril A nostril (or naris , : nares ) is either of the two orifices of the nose. They enable the entry and exit of air and other gasses through the nasal cavities. In birds and mammals, they contain branched bones or cartilages called turbinates ...

s; usually with a notch between the spiny and soft parts of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

Species

The 21 recognized species in this genus are: * '' Acanthemblemaria aceroi''

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, Eytan &

Summers Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

, 2020 (Blue-spotted barnacle blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria aspera'' ( Longley, 1927) (roughhead blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria atrata''

& D. R. Robertson, 1999 (Cocos barnacle blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria balanorum'' Brock, 1940 (clubhead blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria betinensis'' Smith-Vaniz & Palacio, 1974 (speckled blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria castroi'' J. S. Stephens & Hobson, 1966 (Galapagos barnacle blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria chaplini'' J. E. Böhlke, 1957 (papillose blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria crockeri'' Beebe & Tee-Van, 1938 (browncheek blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria exilispinus'' J. S. Stephens, 1963 (bluntspine blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria greenfieldi'' Smith-Vaniz & Palacio, 1974 (false papillose blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria hancocki'' G. S. Myers &

Reid Reid is a surname of Scotland, Scottish origin. It means "red". People with the surname * Alec Cunningham-Reid (1895–1977), British politician * Alan Reid (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Reid (disambiguation), multiple people * Alexan ...

, 1936 (Hancock's blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria harpeza'' J. T. Williams, 2002 * '' Acanthemblemaria hastingsi'' H. C. Lin & Galland, 2010 (Cortez barnacle blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria johnsoni'' Almany & C. C. Baldwin, 1996 * '' Acanthemblemaria macrospilus'' Brock, 1940 (barnacle blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria mangognatha'' Hastings & D. R. Robertson, 1999 (Revillagigedo barnacle blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria maria'' J. E. Böhlke] 1961 (secretary blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria medusa'' Smith-Vaniz & Palacio, 1974 (Medusa blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria paula'' G. D. Johnson &

Brothers A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingl ...

, 1989 (dwarf spinyhead blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria rivasi'' J. S. Stephens, 1970 (spotjaw blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria spinosa'' Metzelaar, 1919 (spinyhead blenny) * '' Acanthemblemaria stephensi'' Rosenblatt & McCosker, 1988 (Malpelo barnacle blenny)

Behavior and diet

Acanthemblemaria are mostly

filter feeding Filter feeders are aquatic animals that acquire nutrients by feeding on organic matters, food particles or smaller organisms (bacteria, microalgae and zooplanktons) suspended in water, typically by having the water pass over or through a spe ...

fishes, they inhabit coral reefs, rocky reefs and abandoned worm and mollusc tubes. They feed mostly on passing

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...

zooplankton Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...

, benthic

worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

References

Chaenopsidae Marine fish genera {{Chaenopsidae-stub