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

clingfish 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 ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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

Galicia, Spain Galicia ( ; or ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain and nationalities and regions of Spain, historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces o ...

Description

Distribution

Occurs in 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 ...

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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, between

latitude In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic 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 t ...

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'' 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 which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

. 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 ( or ) is organic matter made up of the decomposition, decomposing remains of organisms and plants, and also of feces. Detritus usually hosts communities of microorganisms that colonize and decomposition, decompose (Reminera ...

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

Taxonomy

''Lepadogaster lepadogaster'' is one of three species of '' Lepadogaster'' 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 Taxa named by Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre Fish described in 1788