Combtooth Blennies

Combtooth Blennies (Blenniidae) are a family of perch-like fish.

Characteristics

They are found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Some species in the family are also found in brackish and even fresh water. The fish generally have large eyes with a long continuous dorsal fin. The body is compressed, elongated and scaleless. The fish have teeth that resemble a comb. The largest species in this family is the Xiphasia setifer which can reach 53 centimeters in length, but most of the other members are much smaller. They are active and often colorful fish, making them popular to keep in aquariums. In general, the fish live near the bottom, often in shallow water. They are known to be able to live out of the water for short periods of time during low tide, with the strong pectoral fins serving as “feet”. They mainly feed on crustaceans, clams and other invertebrates. Some species food on algae and plankton. Some Combtooth Blennies form small groups, while others are solitary and territorial. The females lay eggs in shells or under overhanging rocks. The males guard the nest until the eggs hatch.

Mimicry

The genera Aspidontus, Meiacanthus, Petroscirtes, Plagiotremus and Xiphasia are known to possess fangs. Together, these five genera are also considered to belong to a separate suborder of Saber-toothed Blennies (or: Nemophini) (instead of different genera of the suborder Blennioidei, as in this article). Species of the genus Apistodontus and Plagiotremus are known to imitate other fish, such as (wrasses (Labridae)) in terms of colour, shape and behaviour. This allows them to bite the skin of some fish. See also false cleaner fish.

Genera

There are about 371 species in 53 to 59 genera, depending on the resource visited. Below is a list of genera of this family:

Aidablennius
Coryphoblennius
Lipophrys
Parenchelyurus

Alloblennius
Crossosalarias
Litobranchus
Pereulixia

Alticus
Dodekablennos
Lupinoblennius
Petroscirtes

Andamia
Ecsenius
Meiacanthus
Phenablennius

Antennablennius
Enchelyurus
Mimoblennius
Plagiotremus

Aspidontus
Entomacrodus
Nannosalarias
Praealticus

Atrosalarias
Exallias
Oman
Rhabdoblennius

Bathyblennius
Glyptoparus
Omobranchus
Salaria

Blenniella
Haptogenys
Omox
Salarias

Blennius
Hirculops
Ophioblennius
Scartella

Chalaroderma
Hypleurochilus
Parablennius
Scartichthys

Chasmodes
Hypsoblennius
Parahypsos
Spaniblennius

Cirripectes
Istiblennius
Paralipophrys
Stanulus

Cirrisalarias
Laiphognathus
Paralticus
Xiphasia

Blennies is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
Based on a work on http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blenniidae.