The shore clingfish (''Lepadogaster lepadogaster'') is a clingfish of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Gobiesocidae. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent Atlantic Ocean north to Galicia, Spain.

Description

Distribution

Occurs in the eastern

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

from Galicia, Spain to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

, between

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north po ...

s 43.8° N and 30° N.

Habitat and Biology

''L. lepadogaster'' often inhabits underwater boulder fields consisting of smooth rocks and large pebbles. Its length is up to 65 mm. ''L.

lepadogaster ''Lepadogaster'' is a genus of clingfishes native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean extending into the Mediterranean Sea. ''Lepadogaster'' belongs to class Actinopterygii. This means that they share many of the same characteristics as eels, ray-finne ...

'' is also classified as a cryptobenthic fish. Cryptobenthic simply means that the fish is both behaviorally and visually cryptic. The term is also used mainly to describe adult fish of a certain size, roughly around 5 cm in length. The clingfish gets its name from the ability of the fish to attach itself to the rock walls of the ocean shore. It does this by having pelvic fins that have been adapted to form suckers. These suckers keep the clingfish strongly attached to the rocky surfaces off the shorelines. In addition to these suckers, the front fins of the clingfish are much stronger to aid in clinging to the rocks. The clingfish has other adaptations that allow it to inhabit rocky surfaces and reduce

predation Predation is a biological interaction In ecology, a biological interaction is the effect that a pair of organisms living together in a community have on each other. They can be either of the same species (intraspecific interactions), or o ...

. For instance, the clingfish has a triangular shaped head and a flattened body. These characteristics allow the clingfish to reduce the drag of the water from the waves pushing and pulling against it. ''L. lepadogaster'' also has distinct differences from the other species of Lepadogaster. For one, ''L. lepadogaster'' has a much more active lifestyle than the species '' L. purpurea''. This is evident in both ''L. lepadogaster's'' swimming speed and in its more frequent feeding periodsGonçalves, D. M., Gonçalves, E. J., Almada, V. C. and Almeida, S. P. (1998), Comparative behaviour of two species of Lepadogaster (Pisces: Gobiesocidae) living at different depths. Journal of Fish Biology, 53: 447–450. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1998.tb00992.x The shore clingfish survives by consisting on a diet of mostly

detritus In biology, detritus () is dead particulate organic material, as distinguished from dissolved organic material. Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of bodies of dead organisms, and fecal material. Detritus typically hosts commu ...

material, meaning that it lives off the dead organic matter of its environment.

Taxonomy

''Lepadogaster lepadogaster'' is one of three species of ''

Lepadogaster ''Lepadogaster'' is a genus of clingfishes native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean extending into the Mediterranean Sea. ''Lepadogaster'' belongs to class Actinopterygii. This means that they share many of the same characteristics as eels, ray-finne ...

'' found in the NE Atlantic. ''L. purpurea'' was considered to be synonymous with ''Lepadogaster zebrina'', but has since been classified as a separate species whilst ''L. zebrina'' has been shown to be synonymous with ''L. lepadogaster''.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q882837 Fish of Europe Shore clingfish Fish described in 1788