''Enneapterygius clea'', or Clea's triplefin, is a species of

threefin blenny Threefin or triplefin blennies are blenniiforms, small percomorph marine fish of the family Tripterygiidae. Found in tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, the family contains about 150 species in 30 genera. Th ...

in the genus ''

Enneapterygius ''Enneapterygius'' is a genus of fish in the family Tripterygiidae found in the Indian and Pacific Ocean. Species There are currently 63 recognized species in this genus: * '' Enneapterygius abeli'' ( Klausewitz, 1960) (Yellow triplefin) * '' E ...

'', described by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

Ronald Fricke in 1997. It is endemic to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Etymology

''Enneapterygius clea'' was described by Ronald Fricke in 1997, from a male

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

(AMS I.22600-056) and 34 paratype specimens. He gave the blenny its species epithet, "''clea''", and its common name in honour of his daughter Clea, then seven years old.

Description

Fricke described ''Enneapterygius clea'' as a medium-sized member of the '' Enneapterygius hemimelas'' species group, and considered it to be most closely related to the blacktail triplefin ('' Enneapterygius bahasa'') and the redtail triplefin ('' Enneapterygius rubicauda''), both from the western Pacific Ocean. Clea's triplefins have yellow-orange bodies with red streaks, orange vertical fins and blue-gray eyes. Males have black heads and tails, while the females do not share this feature. Male Clea's triplefins can reach a maximum length of 3.2 centimetres.

Distribution

The Clea's triplefin is a

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

blenny, endemic to

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 processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

s around

, in the western central

Pacific Ocean 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 definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. It swims at a depth range of 4–24 metres.

References

External links

''Enneapterygius clea''
at www.fishwise.co.za
''Enneapterygius clea''
at

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

''Enneapterygius clea''
at Encyclopedia of Life
''Enneapterygius clea''
at ITIS {{Taxonbar, from=Q2945880 clea Marine fish of Eastern Australia Endemic fauna of Australia Fish described in 1997