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Emblemaria atlantica

Banner Blenny
Collection Details

Specimens

Photos

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Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri) Chaenopsidae (Tube Blennies) Emblemaria Emblemaria atlantica (Banner Blenny)

Description

This species account was compiled from FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Body shape: elongated. Species distinguished by: cirrus on eye present, longer than eye diameter in males (and often in females) and arising from single base; supraorbital cirrus distinctly banded, up to 3 times as long as eye diameter; no bony ridges on rear half of interorbital region; head smooth anteriorly, never spiny; males without flag-like flap on base of first dorsal-fin spine; segmented dorsal-fin rays 13 to 17; total dorsal-fin elements 30 to 38; pectoral-fin rays usually 14; anal-fin rays 20 to 23; 3 obvious segmented pelvic-fin rays (third ray goes 4 or fewer times in length of longest); tip of lower jaw not projecting beyond tip of upper jaw and without fleshy projection; no stripe or series of dark blotches on head and body; one row of teeth on each palatine bone. Common amongst Chaenopsids: small elongate fishes; largest species about 12 cm SL, most under 5 cm SL. Head usually with cirri or fleshy flaps on anterior nostrils, eyes, and sometimes laterally on nape; gill membranes continuous with each other across posteroventral surface of head. Each jaw with canine-like or incisor-like teeth anteriorly; teeth usually also present on vomer and often on palatines (roof of mouth). Dorsal-fin spines flexible, usually outnumbering the segmented soft rays, spinous and segmented-rayed portions forming a single, continuous fin; 2 flexible spines in anal fin; pelvic fins inserted anterior to position of pectoral fins, with 1 spine not visible externally; all fin rays, including caudal-fin rays, unbranched (simple). Lateral line absent. Scales absent (Ref.52855).

Distribution

Western Atlantic: Bermuda, Georgia and northeastern Gulf of Mexico in USA.

Habitat Associations

Marine. reef-associated. depth range 0-110 m.

Biology

Found in intertidal areas in Bermuda. Occurs in deeper water from 30-110 m in USA.
Max length: 7.5 cm TL.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-10-18. Resilience: High.

References

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.
Williams, J.T. (2003) Chaenopsidae. Tubeblennies. p. 1761-1767. In K.E. Carpenter (ed.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Vol. 3: Bony fishes part 2 (Opistognathidae to Molidae), sea turtles and marine mammals.

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