Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and , mucus, slime) are a diverse clade of
ray-finned fish
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...
in the suborder Blennioidei of the
percomorph
Percomorpha () is an extremely large and diverse clade of ray-finned fish. With more than 17,000 known species (including Scombroidei, tuna, Syngnathiformes, seahorses, gobies, Cichlidae, cichlids, flatfish, Labridae, wrasse, Perciformes, perches ...
order
Blenniiformes
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.
The term is derived from the Latin word '' blenn ...
. They inhabit marine, brackish, and occasionally freshwater habitats, and generally share similar morphology and behaviour. About 151
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
and nearly 900 species have been described within the order.
Taxonomy
The order was formerly classified as a suborder of 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 ...
. However, the 5th Edition of ''
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 ...
'' divided the Perciformes into a number of new orders and the Blenniiformes were placed in the percomorph
clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...
Ovalentaria
Ovalentaria is a clade of ray-finned fishes within the Percomorpha, referred to as a subseries. It is made up of a group of fish families which are referred to in ''Fishes of the World's'' fifth edition as'' incertae sedis'', as well as the order ...
alongside the such taxa as
Cichliformes
Cichliformes is an order of fishes. Its members were previously classified under the order Perciformes, but now many authorities consider it to be an independent order within the subseries Ovalentaria. The earliest fossils are known from the Eoc ...
,
Mugiliformes
Mugiliformes is a small order of percomorph fish in the clade Ovalentaria.
This order is recognized by the Catalog of Fishes (2025). It contains only two families:
* Mugilidae Jarocki, 1822 - mullets (57 species)
* Ambassidae Klunzinger, 1870 ...
and
Gobiesociformes
Clingfishes are ray-finned fishes of the family Gobiesocidae, the only family in the suborder Gobiesocoidei of the order Blenniiformes. These fairly small to very small fishes are widespread in tropical and temperate regions, mostly near the coa ...
. ''
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 ...
'' added many more taxa, including the
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 ...
es and
clingfishes
Clingfishes are ray-finned fishes of the family Gobiesocidae, the only family in the suborder Gobiesocoidei of the order Blenniiformes. These fairly small to very small fishes are widespread in tropical and temperate regions, mostly near the coa ...
, into the Blenniiformes, so the "true blennies" were redefined as the suborder Blennioidei.
The six "true blenny" families are:
* 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
Combtooth blennies are blenniiformids; percomorph marine fish of the family Blenniidae, part of the order Blenniiformes. They are the largest family of blennies with around 401 known species in 58 genera. Combtooth blennies are found in tropic ...
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 ...
Clinidae
Clinidae is a family of marine fish in the order Blenniiformes within the series Ovalentaria, part of the Percomorpha . Temperate blennies, the family ranges from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, in both the Southern and Northern Hemis ...
clinid
Clinidae is a family of marine fish in the order Blenniiformes within the series Ovalentaria, part of the Percomorpha . Temperate blennies, the family ranges from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, in both the Southern and Northern Hemi ...
s, including the
giant kelpfish
The giant kelpfish (''Heterostichus rostratus'') is a 10–24 inch species of marine fish, and the largest member of the family Clinidae. It is currently the only known member of its genus.
Description
The giant kelpfish has an eel-like, elo ...
*
Dactyloscopidae
Sand stargazers are blenny, blennioids; perciform marine fish of the family Dactyloscopidae. Found in temperate to tropical waters of North America, North and South America; some may also inhabit brackish environments. The giant sand stargazer (' ...
Clark Hubbs
Clark Hubbs (March 15, 1921 – February 3, 2008) was an American ichthyologist who was professor of zoology at the University of Texas from 1963 until he accepted emeritus status in 1991. He was a leading figure in ichthyology in Texas, teaching s ...
otolith
An otolith (, ' ear + , ', a stone), also called otoconium, statolith, or statoconium, is a calcium carbonate structure in the saccule or utricle (ear), utricle of the inner ear, specifically in the vestibular system of vertebrates. The saccule ...
Early Eocene
In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...
of France. However, skeletal remains of blennies only appear in the fossil record during the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
.
Similarities with other families
The blennioids are superficially quite similar to members of the
goby
The Gobioidei are a suborder of percomorph fish. Many of these fishes are called gobies. It is by far the largest and most diverse order within the order Gobiiformes, and one of the most diverse groups of ray-finned fish in general.
The subord ...
and
dragonet
Dragonets are small Percomorpha, percomorph marine fish of the diverse family Callionymidae (from the Greek language, Greek ''kallis'', "beautiful" and ', "name") found mainly in the tropical waters of the western Indo-Pacific. They are Benthos, ...
families, as well as several other unrelated families whose members have occasionally been given the name "blenny". Many blennies demonstrate
mimicry
In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. In the simples ...
of other species, such as ''
Aspidontus taeniatus
The false cleanerfish (''Aspidontus taeniatus'') is a species of combtooth blenny, a mimic that copies both the dance and appearance of ''Labroides dimidiatus'' (the bluestreak cleaner wrasse), a similarly colored species of cleaner wrasse. It li ...
''. This mimicry allows the blenny to get up close to fish that would normally let ''
Labroides dimidiatus
The bluestreak cleaner wrasse (''Labroides dimidiatus'') is one of several species of cleaner wrasses found on coral reefs from East Africa, Eastern Africa and the Red Sea to French Polynesia. Like other cleaner wrasses, it eats parasites and dead ...
'' (the bluestreak cleaner wrasse), clean them. The blenny then takes nips or larger bites out of the unsuspecting fish. There are two genera of blennies that demonstrate
Batesian mimicry
Batesian mimicry is a form of mimicry where a harmless species has evolved to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a predator of them both. It is named after the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates, who worked on butt ...
- ''Ecsenius'' and ''Plagiotremus''.
Morphology
Blennioids are generally small fish, only occasionally reaching lengths up to 55 cm, with elongated bodies (some almost
eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
-like), and relatively large eyes and mouths. Their dorsal fins are often continuous and long; the pelvic fins typically have a single embedded spine and are short and slender, situated before the pectoral fins. The tail fin is rounded. The blunt heads of blennioids often possess elaborate whisker-like structures called cirri.
Behavior and feeding
As generally
benthic
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...
fish, blennioids spend much of their time on or near the sea floor; many are reclusive and may burrow in sandy substrates or inhabit crevices in
reef
A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...
s, the lower stretches of rivers, or even empty
mollusc
Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...
shells. Some blennies, otherwise known as "rock-hoppers", leap from the water onto rocks in order to reach other pools.Böhlke, J., C. Chaplin. 1994. ''Fishes of the Bahamas and Adjacent Tropical Waters''. Wynnewood, Pa: Published for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia by Livingston.Helfman, G., B. Collete, D. Facey. 1997. ''The Diversity of Fishes''. Malden, MA: Blackwell.Moyle, P., J. Cech. 2000. ''Fishes: An Introduction to Ichthyology – fourth edition''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Springer, V. 1994. Blennies. Pp. 214–217 in W Eschmeyer, J Paxton, eds. ''Encyclopedia of Fishes – second edition''. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
As far as predation, blennies depend on a secretive lifestyle, hiding on the sea floors in shallow water, with cryptic coloration.
Venom
For protection, there is only one genus that is truly venomous, namely ''
Meiacanthus
''Meiacanthus'' is a genus of combtooth blenny, combtooth blennies found in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean, Indian oceans. Many species in this genus make their way into the aquarium trade and several are venomous. The genus name ''Meiacan ...
''. These fish can inject venom from their mandibular, hollow fangs. They have venom that contains the opioid-like
enkephalin
An enkephalin is a pentapeptide involved in regulating nociception (pain sensation) in the body. The enkephalins are termed endogenous ligands, as they are internally derived (and therefore endogenous) and bind as ligands to the body's opioid ...
,
phospholipase
A phospholipase is an enzyme that hydrolyzes phospholipids into fatty acids and other lipophilic substances. There are four major classes, termed A, B, C, and D, which are distinguished by the type of reaction which they catalyze:
*Phospholipase ...
, and
neuropeptide Y
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36 amino-acid neuropeptide that is involved in various physiological and homeostatic processes in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. It is secreted alongside other neurotransmitters such as GABA and glu ...
.Losey GS. 1972. Predation protection in the poison-fang blenny, Meiacanthus atrodorsalis, and its mimics, Ecsenius bicolor and Runula laudandus (Blenniidae). Pac Sci 26(2): 129–139.
Distribution
True blennies are widely distributed in coastal waters, often abundant and easily observed which has made them the subject for many studies of
ecology
Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...
and behaviour. Two of the families, the Blennidae and the Tripterygiidae have global distributions, the Clinidae have a mainly
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
distribution and the remaining three families are largely
Neotropical
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In biogeogra ...
. This distribution makes these fish ideal subjects for studies of
biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities o ...
. It is thought that the splitting of the
Tethys Sea
The Tethys Ocean ( ; ), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean during much of the Mesozoic Era and early-mid Cenozoic Era. It was the predecessor to the modern Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Eurasia ...
by the formation of the
Isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America, North and South America. The country of Panama is located on the i ...
combined with
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Salarias sinuosus'', the fringelip blenny
File:Blenny hiding in a hole near Gilli Lawa Laut, Indonesia.JPG, Blenny hiding in a hole near Gilli Lawa Laut,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...