Blenny is a common name for many types of fish, including several families of percomorph marine, brackish, and some freshwater fish sharing similar morphology and behaviour. Six families are considered "true blennies", grouped under the order Blenniiformes; its members are referred to as blenniiformids. About 151 genera and nearly 900 species have been described within the order. The order was formerly classified as a suborder of the Perciformes but the 5th Edition of Fishes of the World divided the Perciformes into a number of new orders and the Blenniiformes were placed in the percomorph clade Ovalentaria alongside the such taxa as Cichliformes, Mugiliformes and Gobiesociformes.
James Leonard Brierley Smith was a South African ichthyologist, organic chemist, and university professor. He was the first to identify a taxidermied fish as a coelacanth, at the time thought to be long extinct.
Stichaeidae, the pricklebacks or shannies, are a family of marine ray-finned fishes in the suborder Zoarcoidei of the order Scorpaeniformes. Most species are found in the North Pacific Ocean with a few in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Plagiotremus is a genus of combtooth blennies found throughout the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Alticus is a genus of combtooth blennies found in the Pacific and Indian oceans. It is one of 57 genera in the family Blenniidae.
Alloblennius parvus, the dwarf blenny, is a combtooth blenny, from the subfamily Salarinae, of the family Blenniidae. It is a tropical blenny which is known from the western Indian Ocean, and has been recorded swimming at a depth range of 6–10 metres. Dwarf blennies have pale bodies with a dark spot between their first and second dorsal spines. Males have a dark colouring beneath their heads and around their pectoral fins, and can reach a maximum standard length of 2.6 centimetres. The blennies are oviparous.
Meiacanthus is a genus of combtooth blennies found in the western Pacific and Indian oceans. Many species in this genus make their way into the aquarium trade and several are venomous. The genus name Meiacanthus is derived from the Greek meion meaning "less" and akantha meaning "thorn" and refers to most species having relatively few dorsal fin spines.
Meiacanthus naevius, the birthmark fangblenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in the eastern Indian Ocean, around western Australia. This species grows to a length of 3.6 centimetres (1.4 in) SL.
Ophioblennius steindachneri, the large-banded blenny or the Panamic fanged blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the eastern Pacific ocean. This species reaches a length of 18 centimetres (7.1 in) SL.
Ophioblennius trinitatis is a species of combtooth blenny endemic to the southwest Atlantic ocean. It is a subtropical marine fish commonly found in reefs off the coast of Brazil. Combtooth blennies are often referred to as "peixes-macacos" in Brazil, which translates to "monkey-fish".
Petroscirtes fallax, the deceiver fangbelly or yellow saberetooth blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the western Pacific ocean. This species reaches a length of 9.5 centimetres (3.7 in) TL. This is a small species of blenny with a body which is yellow to whitish in colour and is marked with three longitudinal black stripes. The more ventral stripe extending onto the base of the pectoral fin although not to the base of the anal fin. This species is thought to be a possible Batesian mimic of the Lined Fangblenny, Meiacanthus lineatus, which has a pair of venomous canine-like teeth in its lower jaw.
Petroscirtes pylei, the twilight fangblenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in the western central Pacific ocean, around Fiji. This species reaches a length of 4.1 centimetres (1.6 in) SL. The specific name honours the American ichthyologist Richard L. Pyle of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
Petroscirtes springeri is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the northwest Pacific ocean. This species reaches a length of 7.7 centimetres (3.0 in) SL. The specific name honours the American ichthyologist Victor G. Springer of the United States National Museum, it was Springer who first introduced the author to the blenniids and who suggested the study in which Smith-Vaniz described this species.
Plagiotremus goslinei, commonly known as the biting blenny, Gosline's fangblenny, the scale-eating blenny, the Ewa fang blenny, the blue-stripe blenny, or the scale-eating fang blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny. The species epithet honours the American ichthyologist William A. Gosline (1915-2002) of the University of Hawaiʻi.
Plagiotremus phenax, the Imposter fangblenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the Indian Ocean. This species reaches a length of 8 centimetres (3.1 in) TL. This blenny uses bio mimicry to avoid predation, as it has a strong resemblance to the disco blenny.
Paraclinus fasciatus, the banded blenny, is a species of labrisomid blenny native to the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea from southern Florida to Venezuela. The banded blenny is a marine organism, meaning it lives in an aquatic environment. This species lives in the vicinity of coral reefs preferring sea grass beds in shallow waters down to 2 metres (6.6 ft). Although they are typically located in shallow waters, their colors camouflage them exceptionally well, leading to them rarely being seen or recognized. They have also been found within floating algae.
Adelotremus leptus is a species of combtooth blenny native to the Red Sea where it is only known from Marsa el At, Egypt. It was caught at a depth of 15 metres (49 ft). It has a slender body. The first specimen, a female, measured 3.54 centimetres (1.39 in) SL, and others have been recorded since. Until 2017 this species was considered to be the only species in the monotypic genus Adelotremus. In 2017 a second species, Adelotremus deloachi was described from Indonesia.
Salarinae is one of two subfamilies in the combtooth blenny family Blenniidae, it is the largest of the two subfamilies in the Blennidae with 43 genera. The species in this subfamily are mainly marine, with a few species which are found in freshwater or brackish water, and a few species are known to spend much time out of the water.
Blenniinae is one of two subfamilies in the combtooth blenny family Blenniidae, it is the smallest of the two subfamilies in the Blennidae with 16 genera and 95 species.
Adelotremus deloachi, the spotfin fangblenny, is a species of combtooth blenny from the western Pacific Ocean in Indonesia. The type and paratypes were collected from Bali and the Lembeh Strait. The specimens were collected from depths of 10–17 metres (33–56 ft) from sandy slopes. The specific name honours Ned Deloach, an author and photographer who has written about reef fishes and raised awareness of their conservation.
