''Exallias brevis'', the leopard blenny, (or Pāoo o kauila in Hawaiian) 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 ...

found in

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

s in 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. This species can be found in the aquarium trade and is the only known member of its genus.

Description

''Exallias brevis'' is easily identifiable by its blunt head and spotted body that varies in color and pattern. Males have brown spots on their head, with red spots on their body. While females and juveniles have brown spots all over. This species reaches a length of TL.

Diet

Leopard blennies are known to consume superficial coenosarc tissue from coral polyps.

Distribution and habitat

The leopard blenny is usually found in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

, including Hawaii, the Red Sea, Australia and French Polynesia, at a depth of . Coral reefs are where this species makes its home.

References

External links

* Salarinae Monotypic fish genera Fish described in 1868 Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Barton Warren Evermann {{Blenniidae-stub