Threefin or triplefin blennies are blenniiforms, small percomorph marine

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

of the family Tripterygiidae. Found in tropical and temperate waters of the

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 ...

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 Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

s, the family contains about 150 species in 30 genera. The family name derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''tripteros'' meaning "with three wings". With an elongated, typical blenny form, threefin blennies differ from their relatives by having a

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

separated into three parts (hence the name); the first two are spinous. The small, slender pelvic fins are located underneath the throat and possess a single spine; the large anal fin may have one or two spines. The pectoral fins are greatly enlarged, and the tail fin is rounded. The New Zealand topknot, ''Notoclinus fenestratus'', is the largest species at 20 cm in total length; most other species do not exceed 6 cm. Many threefin blennies are brightly coloured, often for reasons of

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

; these species are popular in the

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

hobby. As

demersal fish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They oc ...

, threefin blennies spend most of their time on or near the bottom on

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

and rocks. The fish are typically found in shallow, clear waters with sun exposure, such as

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

s and seaward

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 component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s; nervous fish, they retreat to rock crevices at any perceived threat. Threefin blennies are diurnal and territorial; many species exhibit sexual dichromatism, with the females drab compared to the males. The second dorsal fin is also extended in the males of some species. Small

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s comprise the bulk of the threefin blenny diet.

Genera

FishBase lists about 150 species in 30 genera: *Subfamily Notoclininae Fricke, 2009 **'' Brachynectes'' Scott, 1957 **'' Notoclinus''

Gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

, 1893 * Subfamily Tripterygiinae Whitley, 1931 * '' Acanthanectes'' Holleman &

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

, 1993 * '' Apopterygion'' Kuiter, 1986 * '' Axoclinus'' Fowler, 1944 * ''

Bellapiscis ''Bellapiscis'' is a genus of triplefins in 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 b ...

'' Hardy, 1987 * '' Blennodon'' Hardy, 1987 * '' Ceratobregma'' Holleman, 1987 Yellow-and-black triplefin
''Forsterygion flavonigrum'' * '' Cremnochorites'' Holleman, 1982 * '' Crocodilichthys'' Allen & Robertson, 1991 * '' Cryptichthys'' Hardy, 1987 * '' Enneanectes'' D.S. Jordan & Evermann, 1895 * '' Enneapterygius'' Rüppell, 1835 * ''

Forsterygion ''Forsterygion'' is a genus of Threefin blenny, triplefins in the family (biology), family Tripterygiidae native to coastal New Zealand, but also Introduced species, introduced to Tasmania, Australia. Species The following species are classified ...

'' Whitley & Phillipps, 1939 * '' Gilloblennius'' Whitley & Phillipps, 1939 * '' Helcogramma'' McCulloch & Waite, 1918 * '' Helcogrammoides'' Rosenblatt, 1990 * '' Karalepis'' Hardy, 1984 * '' Lepidoblennius'' Steindachner, 1867 * '' Lepidonectes'' Bussing, 1991 * '' Matanui'' Jawad & Clements, 2004 * '' Norfolkia'' Fowler, 1953 * '' Notoclinops'' Whitley, 1930 Blue-eyed triplefin
''Notoclinops segmentatus'' * '' Ruanoho'' Hardy, 1986 * '' Springerichthys'' Shen, 1994 * '' Trianectes'' McCulloch & Waite, 1918 * '' Trinorfolkia'' Fricke, 1994 * '' Tripterygion'' Risso, 1827 * ''

Ucla The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

'' Holleman, 1993

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1257814 Blenniiformes