Blenniiformes is an order of percomorph fish in the clade Ovalentaria, of which it is the most diverse group. This order contains several well-known fish groups such as blennies and

damselfish Damselfish are those fish within the subfamilies Abudefdufinae, Chrominae, Lepidozyginae, Pomacentrinae, and Stegastinae within the family Pomacentridae. Most species within this group are relatively small, although the four largest speci ...

. The term is derived from the Latin word '' blennius'', which itself comes from the Ancient Greek word βλεννός (''blennos''), meaning "mucus" or "slime." This refers to the slimy coating that is often found on the scales of blenny fish. The earliest known member of this order is the stem group-damselfish '' Chaychanus'' from the

Early Paleocene The Danian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Paleocene Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series, of the Paleogene Period or system (stratigraphy), System, and of the Cenozoic Era or Erathem. The beginnin ...

of Mexico.

Taxonomy

As with many other percomorphs, most members of this group were originally placed in the

Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish in the clade Percomorpha. ''Perciformes'' means " perch-like". Among the well-known members of this group are perches and darters ( Percidae), and als ...

. Previously, ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...

'' defined this order as restricted to the blennies and their close relatives, and placed several taxa such as the

es, jawfishes, and surfperches as indeterminate members of Ovalentaria. Phylogenetic evidence suggests that these families form a successive grade leading to blennies, leading to them also being placed in this order by newer authorities such as ''

Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Catalog of Fishes is a comprehensive on-line database and reference work on the scientific names of fish species and genera. It is global in its scope and is hosted by the California Academy of Sciences. It has been compiled and is continuously up ...

''. Some studies go even further and also place the Cichliformes and Mugiliformes (the closest relatives of this group based on phylogenetic studies) within this order, although this is not followed by ''Catalog of Fishes''. The following families are placed here by ''Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes'': * Order Blenniiformes ** Family Pseudochromidae

Müller Müller may refer to: Companies * Müller (company), a German multinational dairy company ** Müller Milk & Ingredients, a UK subsidiary of the German company * Müller (store), a German retail chain * GMD Müller, a Swiss aerial lift manufacturi ...

& Troschel, 1849 - dottybacks ** Family

Plesiopidae The longfins, also known as roundheads or spiny basslets, are a Family (biology), family, Plesiopidae, which were formerly placed in the order Perciformes or considered indeterminate Percomorpha, percomorphs, but are now considered basal Blenniifo ...

Günther, 1861 - roundheads ** Family

Pomacentridae Pomacentridae is a family of ray-finned fish, comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes. This family were formerly placed in the order Perciformes or as indeterminate percomorphs, but are now considered basal blenniiforms. They are primaril ...

Bonaparte, 1831 -

es & anemonefishes ** Family Embiotocidae

Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

, 1853 - surfperches ** Family

Grammatidae Grammatidae is a small Family (biology), family of ray-finned fishes which were formerly placed in the order Perciformes or as indeterminate Percomorpha, percomorphs, but are now considered Blenniiformes, blenniiforms. They are commonly known as ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, 1887 - gramma basslets ** Family

Opistognathidae Opistognathidae, the jawfishes, are a family of fishes in the order Blenniiformes. The family includes about 80 species. They are native to warmer parts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, where found from the shallows to depths of a few ...

Bonaparte, 1835 - jawfishes ** Suborder Gobiesocoidei *** Family Gobiesocidae Bleeker, 1859 - clingfishes ** Suborder Blennioidei - blennies *** Family Tripterygiidae Whitley, 1931 - triplefins or threefin blennies *** Family Blenniidae

Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; 22 October 178318 September 1840) was a French early 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ult ...

, 1810 - combtooth blennies *** Family Clinidae Swainson, 1839 - kelp blennies *** Family Labrisomidae Clark Hubbs, 1952 - labrisomid blennies *** Family

Chaenopsidae The blennioid family Chaenopsidae includes the pike-blennies, tube-blennies, and flagblennies, all percomorph marine fish in the order Blenniiformes. The family is strictly tropical, ranging from North to South America. Members are also presen ...

Gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

, 1865 - pikeblennies or tube blennies *** Family Dactyloscopidae Gill, 1859 - sand stargazers

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q60613116 Blenniiformes Ovalentaria Ray-finned fish orders