Starksia ocellata
Checkered Blenny
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Labrisomidae (Labrisomid Blennies)
Starksia
Starksia ocellata (Checkered Blenny)
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
Long, simple cirrus on naris, eyeball, and nape; ventral side of body largely naked; dorsal profile of head gently rounded; snout slightly acute; anterior naris tubular with simple, slender cirrus on posterior margin; supraorbital cirrus slender and longer than other cirri; maxilla extends to or beyond posterior margin of orbit; lips fleshy; jaws with single row of canines and patch of small teeth behind anterior canines; teeth on vomer, present or absent on palatine; head length 28%-31.4% SL; snout length 6.2%-7.2% SL; upper jaw length 13.3%-14.4% SL; pre-dorsal-fin length 26.1%-27.9% SL; pre-anal-fin length 48.3%-54% SL; body depth at pelvic fin origin 17.8%-20.7% SL; pectoral fin with 12-15 (usually 14) rays; dorsal fin with 20-22 spines and 7-9 (usually 8 or 9) rays; pelvic fin with 1 spine and 3 rays; anal fin with 2 spines and 16-19 (usually 18 or 19) rays; caudal fin with 12 or 13 segmented rays; lateral line discontinuous with 15-19 scales in anterior section and 20-23 in posterior section; scales present on body except belly, absent on head
Color varies from plain brown to light, with three distinct rows of irregularly shaped blotches; cheek, operculum, and pectoral fin base usually covered with small ringlike markings
Distribution
Western Atlantic from North Carolina and the Bahamas to the Gulf of Mexico
In the Gulf of Mexico, occurs along the west coast of Florida and Veracruz
Habitat Associations
Rock and coral habitats between 1 and 24 m; occasionally found as an inquiline in sponges
Biology
Maximum known size is 34 mm SL
In males, first anal spine is completely separated from second spine and rays, is longer than second spine, and is connected to elongate genital papilla
Inhabits rocky and coral reefs, often inside tube sponges (Ref. 9710).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2007-10-18. Resilience: High.
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Longley and Hildebrand 1941
Dawson 1960
Springer and Woodburn 1960
Böhlke and Springer 1961
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968
Greenfield 1979
Robins and Ray 1986
Schaldach et al. 1997
Smith 1997
Williams 2002c
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.
Randall, J.E. (1996) Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
Cervigón, F. (1994) Los peces marinos de Venezuela. Volume 3. Fundación Científica Los Roques, Caracas,Venezuela. 295 p.
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