''Clinitrachus argentatus'', the cline, is a species of

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 ...

found in shallow waters of the eastern

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. This species feeds primarily on

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". ...

invertebrates. This species is currently the only known member of its genus.

Description

''Clinitrachus argentatus'' has a highly elongated oval-shaped, laterally compressed body. There is a ridge on the head behind the eye which is triangular in shape and is attached to branched tentacles. On the margin of the tube-shaped anterior nostril is another tentacle, and there is a smaller tentacle near the posterior nostril. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

has an indentation where the hard spines give way o the softer rays. The colour of the body varies from light grey to dark brown, occasionally it can be purplish, with lines of small silver grey spots along the flanks underneath the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

with more spots scattered above it. The head is patterned with silver grey, the upper part of the head is lighter and there is a star-like pattern around the eye. The fins are the same colour as the body. This species can reach a maximum length of TL. Un Cline argenté.jpg, Whole individual Un individu mimétique.jpg, Mimicry with its environment

Distribution

''Clinitrachus argentatus'' is almost

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

tithe Mediterranean, occurring throughout that sea to the

Bosphorous The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental b ...

and the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...

, its range extends through the

Straits of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

into the eastern Atlantic Ocean along the coasts of southern Spain, southern Portugal and northern Morocco.

Habitat and biology

''Clinitrachus argentatus'' occurs in shallow water among dense algal growths. It can be found among rocks, in vegetation on harbour walls and dykes. The breeding season is May and June and the males guard egg masses laid by several females. It feeds mainly on small invertebrates, the juveniles mainly on

copepod Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...

s while the adults take a wider range of prey including

amphipod Amphipoda () is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 10,700 amphipod species cur ...

isopod Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...

s, brachyurans and

polychaete Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine Annelid, annelid worms, common name, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called c ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1469147 Clinidae Fish described in 1810