''Medusablennius'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus 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 ...

, its only member being ''Medusablennius chani'', which is known only from a single reef in the

Tuamotu Archipelago The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to ...

. It was recorded from surge channels in tidal flats. This species is characterised by having numerous cirii on its head which is why Springer named the genus after the

gorgon The Gorgons ( ; ), in Greek mythology, are three monstrous sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, said to be the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. They lived near their sisters the Graeae, and were able to turn anyone who looked at them to sto ...

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; ), also called Gorgo () or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her wa ...

, while the

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours William L. Chan who noted that the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

was likely to be a species new to science.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21078702 Salarinae Fish described in 1966