Chaenopsis ocellata
Bluethroat Pikeblenny
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Chaenopsidae (Tube Blennies)
Chaenopsis
Chaenopsis ocellata (Bluethroat Pikeblenny)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Snout bluntly V-shaped; dorsal fin with more rays than spines; head slightly elevated in profile; anterior naris a long tube lacking a cirrus; lower jaw projects slightly beyond upper jaw; jaw teeth in bands, broad near symphysis, narrowing toward corner of mouth; vomer and palatine with tooth patches; lower jaw with poorly developed medial dewlap; measurements (% SL): head length 26%–28%, snout length 6.3%–7.8%, eye diameter 2.7%–4.2%, snout to dorsal fin origin 19%–22%, snout to anal fin origin 48%–55%, body depth at dorsal fin origin 5.4%–7.7%; pectoral fin rays 12-14; dorsal fin spines 18-20, rays 33-36; pelvic fin spine 1, rays 3; anal fin spines 2, rays 34-37; membranes of last dorsal and anal fin rays continuous with caudal fin
Sandy brown with dark bars on side and dark branchiostegal membranes; mature males with dusky head, blue branchiostegal membranes, orange iris, and curved black marking enclosing an orange spot between first and second dorsal fin spines
Distribution
Western Atlantic from southern Florida and the Bahamas to Cuba and the Virgin Islands, including the Gulf of Mexico; in the Gulf of Mexico, from Dry Tortugas and from Tampa to Cedar Key, FL
Habitat Associations
Rocky reefs and silty grass beds; near shore to 12 m
Lives solitarily in polychaete tubes
Biology
Maximum known size 111 mm SL
Inhabits worm tubes in seagrass beds, often in turbid inshore waters. Usually solitary. Very territorial (Ref. 9710). Occasionally found to depths of 12 m (Ref. 26938).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-10-18.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Böhlke 1957b
Springer and Woodburn 1960
Robins and Randall 1965
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Robins and Ray 1986
Smith 1997
Williams 2002d
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986) A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Comments On Chaenopsis ocellata