Apletodon pellegrini | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Gobiesociformes |
Family: | Gobiesocidae |
Genus: | Apletodon |
Species: | A. pellegrini |
Binomial name | |
Apletodon pellegrini (Chabanaud, 1925) | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Apletodon pellegrini, the chubby clingfish, is a species of clingfish of the family Gobiesocidae. The species is found in the Eastern Atlantic, from Madeira, Cape Verde, Canary Islands, Annobon Islands, mainland shore from Cape Blanco south to Port Alfred, South Africa.
The chubby clingfish reaches a length of 5.0 cm (2.0 in). [2] It is short with a fat triangular head that tapers to a narrow tail. It ranges from nearly white to pink to dark maroon in colour and may have dark (if mostly pale) or light (if mostly dark) blotches covering its skin. These blotches are not present in all individuals. The pelvic fins are modified to form sucker, which the fish uses to attach itself to smooth, flat surfaces. [3] The anus is surrounded by papillae. [4] It usually has a pale line between the eyes. This may form a triangle in some specimens. [3] It has large but rounded incisor-like teeth on both jaws at the front of the mouth, particularly in dult males. [4]
This fish has a distinctive J-shaped form when resting, with the tail curled towards the head. They will often attach themselves to the insides of flat shells on the sea floor. [3]
Females lay eggs inside shells at various times during the year. She guards the shell and the transparent eggs inside. After they hatch, small round marks can be seen on the shell to which the eggs were attached. The juveniles hide themselves while they grow and mid-sized fish can be found a couple of weeks later. [3]
The cling fish is named in honor of French ichthyologist Jacques Pellegrin (1873-1944). [5]
The New Zealand urchin clingfish is a clingfish. It is found around New Zealand wherever sea urchins are present. Its length is between 2 and 3 cm.
Clingfishes are fishes of the family Gobiesocidae, the only family in the order Gobiesociformes. These fairly small to very small fishes are widespread in tropical and temperate regions, mostly near the coast, but a few species in deeper seas or fresh water. Most species shelter in shallow reefs or seagrass beds, clinging to rocks, algae and seagrass leaves with their sucking disc, a structure on their chest.
Dellichthys is a small genus of clingfishes from the family Gobiesocidae which are endemic to New Zealand. It had been regarded as a monotypic genus but a second species was described in 2018.
Hector's clingfish is a clingfish of the family Gobiesocidae, the only species in the genus Gastrocyathus. It is found all down the east coast of New Zealand around the low water mark amongst seaweed, on rocky coastlines. Its length is up to 6.4 centimetres (2.5 in) SL. This species was described in 1876 by Albert Günther as Crepidogaster hectoris from a holotype collected on the south shore of the Cook Strait. Günther honoured the Scottish-born scientist James Hector (1834-1907) who was the Director of the Geological Survey of New Zealand and who presented type to the British Museum.
The giant clingfish is a clingfish of the family Gobiesocidae, the only species in the genus Haplocylix. It is found all down the east coast of New Zealand around the low water mark amongst seaweed, on rocky coastlines. Its length is up to 15 centimetres (5.9 in). This species was originally described as Cyclopterus littoreus in 1801 by Johann Reinhold Forster, John C. Briggs subsequently placed it in the monotypic genus Haplocylix. Its closest relative appears to be the Caribbean deepwater clingfish Gymnoscyphus ascitus.
Kuiter's deepsea clingfish is a clingfish of the family Gobiesocidae, found only off southern Australia, at depths of between 90 and 110 metres.
Modicus tangaroa is a clingfish of the family Gobiesocidae, found only around New Zealand where it occurs on coarse substrates consisting of shell fragments and bryozoa at depths of 20–149 metres (66–489 ft). This species was described by Grahma S Hardy in 1983 from types collected from the research vessel Tangoroa over the Ranfurly Bank, East Cape in New Zealand, the species was named after the vessel.
Apletodon is a genus of marine fish in the family Gobiesocidae (clingfishes). The genus was first named by John Carmon Briggs in 1955.
The Weedsucker is a species of clingfish found along the coasts of Namibia and South Africa, from Lüderitz to the mouth of the Kei River. This species grows to a maximum length of 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) Total Length. This species is the only known member of its genus and was described by James L.B. Smith in 1943 with the type locality being described as 10 miles (16 km) west of East London, east of Igoda, South Africa.
The Posidonia clingfish is a species of clingfish native to the Australia coast. This species grows to a length of 2 centimetres (0.79 in) SL. Pale green to pale blue with fine spots forming dark reticulations on back and sides, larger blue spots often on back, and a pinkish to brown line from snout to gill cover. The posidonia clingfish is endemic to southern Australia where its range extends from Corner Inlet in Victoria west as far as Rottnest Island in Western Australia. It occurs down to a depth of 10 metres (33 ft) where it is found on macroalgae and within seagrass beds, its favoured substrate to adhere to is the leaves of the sea grass Posidonia australis. This species is the only known member of its genus and was described by John C. Briggs in 1993 with a type locality of Fiddler's Bay which is 16 kilometres south of Tamby Bay in South Australia. Briggs gave the species the specific name hutchinsi in honour of the ichthyologist Barry Hutchins of the Western Australia Museum in Perth, Western Australia.
Propherallodus briggsi is a species of clingfish native to the coasts of Japan. This species grows to a length of 3 centimetres (1.2 in) SL. This species is the only known member of its genus, it was described by Masaru Shiogaki and Yoshie Dotsu in 1983 with a type locality of Meshima Island, Japan. Its specific name honours the American ichthyologist John "Jack" C. Briggs (1920–2018).
Lepadogaster candolii, common name Connemarra clingfish, is a species of fish in the genus Lepadogaster. It occurs in the Eastern Atlantic from the British Isles south to Madeira and the Canary Islands and into the western Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The specific name candolii honours the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778-1841) and has various spellings: candolii, candolei, candollei, and decandollii, but only the first one is correct. Some workers have found that L. candolii is not closely related to the other two species in the genus Lepadogaster and have proposed the placing of this species in the revived monotypic genus Mirbelia Canestrini, 1864, at least until more definitive taxonomic studies can be undertaken.
Apletodon bacescui is a species of clingfish of the family Gobiesocidae. The species is endemic to the Black Sea, where it is found in the south western part of the sea off Romania and Bulgaria, along the northern coast of Anatolia to central Turkey. This species was described by Adriana Antoniu-Murgoci in 1940 from specimens collected by zoologist Mihai C. Bacescu (1908-1999) of the Grigore Antipa National Museum of Natural History in Bucharest while he was dredging in the Black Sea.
The São Tomé clingfish is a species of marine fish of the family Gobiesocidae (clingfish). It grows to 1.4 cm maximal length. It occurs in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, around the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe between 0 and 3 metres depth. The species was first described in 2007 by Ronald Fricke, its specific name honouring the collector of the type, marine biologist Peter Wirtz of Madeira.
Diplecogaster bimaculata, the two-spotted clingfish, is a species of fish in the family Gobiesocidae found in Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean where it is found on rocks and among seagrass or shell beds.
The dwarf shore eel is a species of clingfish from the family Gobiesocidae.It is a small species which attains a maximum total length of 4.5 centimetres (1.8 in). This species is transparent and its internal organs are clearly visible through its skin. It occurs at depths of 0 to 5 metres within beds of seagrass and sometimes in nearby reefs. It is endemic to southern Australia where its range extends from near Sydney in New South Wales to Houtman Abrolhos in Western Australia, including the northern and eastern coasta of Tasmania. This species was described by Victor G. Springer and Thomas H. Fraser in 1976 and the specific name honours the ichthyologist Douglass F. Hoese of the Australian Museum who provided Springer and Fraser with much of the material they used in their description.
Diplecogaster tonstricula, the Eastern Atlantic cleaner clingfish, is a species of clingfish from the family Gobiesocidae which is found in the tropical eastern North Atlantic Ocean. It has been observed cleaning larger species of fish.
Lepadichthys frenatus, the bridled clingfish, is a species of clingfish from the family Gobiesocidae. It is found on shallow reefs in the western Pacific Ocean.
Opeatogenys gracilis is a species of clingfish from the family Gobiesocidae which is found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Suggested common names for this species are the pygmy clingfish and the seagrass clingfish.
Opeatogenys cadenati is a species of clingfish from the family Gobiesocidae. It occurs in the eastern Atlantic and has been recorded off Ghana, Senegal and Morocco, as well as off the Canary Islands. This species was described by John C. Briggs in 1957 with a type locality of Chenal de Joal off Senegal. Briggs honoured the French ichthyologist Jean Cadenat (1908-1992) who was Director of the Marine Biological Section of the Institut Français d’Afrique Noire in Gorée, Senegal.