User:Himari Okubo/Scarface blenny

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scarface blenny

Cirripectes vanderbilti, also known as the Scarface blenny, is found in coral reefs in the Hawaiian and Johnston islands in the eastern central Pacific ocean.

Classification

Scarface blenny

The Scarface blenny are Blenniiformes in the Blenniidae family.

Description (anatomy, morphology)

This species reaches a length of 10 centimeters (3.9 in) SL. Adults with dark brown (though rarely pale brown to white) body. The color pattern is highly variable. They have dark red to orange slashes on their head extending dorsal and posterior from the snout and encircling the eye. Their dorsal fin has yellowish-brown rays; the upper caudal-fin rays  are yellowish; and the lower rays  are dark brown. Spines and soft rays are sometimes difficult to distinguish in the Hawaiian blennies, but can often be differentiated when the fin is held before a strong light, or by removing the membrane from one side of the fin. In general, the spines are soft and flexible but rather more slender than articulated rays. With the discovery of the Hawaiian Scarface Blenny Cirripectes vanderbilti, it shows that the genus Cirripectes contains more cryptic diversity than previously thought. These results highlight the importance of ongoing genetic and biodiversity inventories on coral reefs, particularly as these habitats are increasingly under threat.

Distribution

The species was first described in 1938 by Henry W. Fowler under the name Ophioblennius vanderbilti from a specimen collected near Diamond Head, Oahu in 1937 by the George Vanderbilt South Pacific Expedition. The species are found in the Eastern Central Pacific: Hawaiian and Johnston islands.

Habitat

The species are algivorous fishes that inhabit shallow, rocky shores and reefs. The blenniid fish tribe Salariini is a group of marine shore-fishes found circumglobally in tropical and subtropical seas. Members of the tribe are quite similar ecologically; most are herbivores or detritivores and inhabit rocky or coralline areas. Ophioblennius are also herbivores. Reef and rock blennies are usually territorial and have their own areas of rock pools which they skip and jump over, scraping algae from the surface of dead corals.

Human Use

Blenniids are not food fishes, but the genera Ecsenius, Salarias, and Meiacanthus are gathered for aquarium use. Blennies in an aquarium are somewhat territorial in nature, and only one species per tank is recommended for most of the fish in this group.