Pholidichthys leucotaenia

Pholidichthys leucotaenia
Pholidichthys leucotaenia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Pholidichthyidae
Genus: Pholidichthys
Species: P. leucotaenia
Binomial name
Pholidichthys leucotaenia
Bleeker, 1856

Pholidichthys leucotaenia, commonly known as the convict blenny/goby or the engineer blenny/goby, is a marine fish from the Western Central Pacific. It is neither a blenny nor a goby but is in fact one of two species in the family Pholidichthyidae.

Description

The convict blenny is a small eel-shaped fish which can grow up to 34 cm in length. Juveniles resemble the striped catfish Plotosus lineatus, which is venomous, having a black body with a white dorsal stripe. As they develop, the stripe changes to white convict-style barring or spotting in the adult.

Ecology

The convict blenny lives in shallow lagoons and on coastal reefs from the Philippines to the Solomon Islands. It is often found in schools under ledges or around coral heads. These schools swim in such tight formations that they resemble a single organism. This blenny occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade, where it is known for disrupting all but the most stable structures.[1]

DNA analyses suggest this species is neither a blenny nor a goby, but part of a separate fish family, the Pholidichthyidae.

In the Solomon Islands, researchers under Eugenie Clark, found juveniles emerging from holes in the seafloor and adjoining coral reefs. By day these juveniles swim up to 50 meters from their home burrows to feed on plankton. At the end of the day all returned to the burrows, remarkable and unique behaviour for larval fish.

While their young are out feeding, the parents busy themselves with housekeeping chores, ejecting mouthfuls of debris from the burrows. Research has revealed a maze of tunnels and chambers totalling a length of some six meters. At night young fish dangled by their mouths from the roof of the tunnels by thin mucous threads.

Adults may grow to some 60 cms, but never leave the tunnels to feed. They frequently take in mouthfuls of juveniles and spit them out again. An inspection of adult stomachs showed only a green slime.[2]

References

  1. ^ http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pholodichthyidae.htm accessed 13 March 2011
  2. ^ National Geographic - Clues From a Convict


Stub icon This Perciformes article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.