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• +/- cirri: nostrils, eyes and nape
• dorsal and anal fins- long bases
• mouth low, not protractile
• no scales

COMBTOOTH BLENNIES

These small, bottom-dwelling fishes are a conspicuous element of reef fish communities. Blennies are characterized by a combination of an elongate body, lack of scales, and a continuous, long-based dorsal fin (with VII-XIII flexible spines and 13-35 segmented rays in the tropical eastern Pacific species). Unlike the tube blennies (Chaenopsidae) they usually have fewer spines than soft rays in the dorsal fin. Most species are relatively blunt-headed, and many have tentacles, cirri, or a fleshy crest on the top of the head. The mouth is low on the head and not protractile; jaw teeth are numerous, slender, and close-set, either fixed or moveable. Most species have canine teeth. The sabre-toothed blennies, have a pair of enormous canines in the lower jaw used for defense or feeding. This includes members of the genus Plagiotremus (Runula is a synonym) which are a nuisance to other fishes due to their habit of feeding on scales, mucus, and skin.

The diet of most non sabre-toothed blennies consists mainly of algae. Although most species live on the reef's surface, the sabre-toothed blennies are free swimmers, usually seen a short distance above the bottom. However, they frequently retreat to burrows (often a hollow worm tube) on the bottom. Blennies lay demersal eggs, and for the species which have been studied, it appears these are guarded by the male until hatching.

Blennies are worldwide family and well represented in mainly tropical and subtropical seas with 54 genera and approximately 305 species. In our region 15 species from eight genera are known, 13 endemics and two western Atlantic species that have passed through the Panama Canal. Hypsoblennius of the eastern Pacific were treated by Krejsa (1960, as Blenniolus), and Bath (1977, 1996, 2000); Entomacrodus and Ophioblennius were treated by Springer (1967; 1962); and Smith- Vaniz (1976) covered Plagiotremus. The genus Scartichthys Jordan & Evermann was reviewed by Williams (1990); it contains three species that occur mainly in temperate waters of western South America, except for S. gigas, which ranges northward to Panama.

References

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