Emblemaria piratula
Pirate 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 piratula (Pirate 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.)
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Characters
Body shape: elongated. Species distinguished by: dorsal-fin spines 17 to 20; dorsal-fin rays 14 to 16; total dorsal-fin elements 30 to 38; anal-fin rays 20 or 21; vertebrae 39 or 40; pectoral-fin rays 13; 2 obvious segmented pelvic-fin rays (third ray vestigial or goes 5 or more times in length of longest); cirrus on eye arising from a single base, longer than eye diameter in males (and often in females); head smooth anteriorly, never spiny; 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 and only 2 or 3 segmented (soft) rays; all fin rays, including caudal-fin rays, unbranched (simple). Lateral line absent. Scales absent (Ref.52855).
Distribution
Western Central Atlantic: northeastern Gulf of Mexico in USA (Ref. 7251). Believed to have a continental distribution but has since been reported from Belize (provisional identification), Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (Ref. 51183).
Habitat Associations
Marine. reef-associated. depth range 0-30 m.
Biology
Occurs from the shoreline to deep rocky and coral reefs (Ref. 9710).
Max length: 5.0 cm TL.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-10-18. Resilience: High.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
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.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 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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