The leaping blenny (''Alticus saliens''), also known as the jumping blenny, is a species of

combtooth blenny Combtooth blennies are blenny, blenniiformids; Percomorpha, percomorph marine fish of the family Blenniidae, part of the Order (biology), order Blenniiformes. They are the largest family of blennies with around 401 known species in 58 genera. Com ...

(family Blenniidae) in the genus ''

Alticus ''Alticus'' is a genus of Combtooth blenny, combtooth blennies found in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, Indian oceans. It is one of 57 genera in the family Blenniidae. Species There are currently ten recognized species in this genus: * ''Alticus a ...

''.''Alticus saliens''
at www.fishbase.org. There is some uncertainty as to whether it was first described by J.R. Forster in 1788Forster, J. R., 1788 ef. 1354''Enchiridion historiae naturali inserviens, quo, termini et delineationes ad avium, piscium, insectorum et plantarum adumbrationes intelligendas et concinnandas, secundum methodum systematis Linnaeani continentur.'' Hemmerde & Schwetschke, Halae. Enchiridion historiae naturali inserviens: 1-6 + 6 + 1-224 pp. or B.G.E. Lacepède in 1800,Lacepède, B. G. E., 1800 (20 July) ef. 2709''Histoire naturelle des poissons.'' Histoire naturelle des poissons (Lacepéde) v. 2: i-lxiv + 1-632, Pls. 1-20. although

Fishbase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

currently accredits it to Forster. It was originally described as a member of the genus '' Blennius''. It is a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

blenny known from the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

and Indian oceans, including the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

, the

Society Islands The Society Islands ( , officially ; ) are an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean that includes the major islands of Tahiti, Mo'orea, Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora and Huahine. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country ...

, the

Ryukyu The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

and Bonin Islands,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

; and the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st pa ...

. Leaping blennies have been recorded at a maximum water depth of 2 metres, though notably live above the water. They inhabit holes in

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

deposits in intertidal zones, and leap between holes when disturbed, earning them their common name. They are very social at mid-tide, using visual displays to warn off competitors and attract mates. Although they must remain moist to breathe, the blennies are able to breathe air, and actively avoid submersion by tide waters."'Landlubber' Fish Leap for Love When Tide Is Right"
at http://www.sciencedaily.com. Leaping blennies feed primarily off of

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

. They are

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

and form distinct pairs when mating. They can reach a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...

of 10 centimetres (4 inches).''Alticus saliens''
at www.fishwise.co.xa.

References

External links

''Alticus saliens''
at

WoRMS The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

''Alticus saliens''
at

ITIS The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) is an American partnership of federal agencies designed to provide consistent and reliable information on the taxonomy of biological species. ITIS was originally formed in 1996 as an interagenc ...

Leaping blenny Fish described in 1788 Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster {{Blenniidae-stub