Kent Miller, USA
Info
Gobioclinus guppyi occurs in rocky and rubble shores with seaweed mats, reefs and seagrass beds.
Populations have been found in a variety of habitats – tide pools, mixed sand and rock, low, overgrown coral reef, patch reefs and limestone slopes – in water no deeper than 8 meters.
The mimic blenny was collected in February 2023 in coastal waters off Noord, Aruba, its length was 8.1 cm., the species reaches a maximum length of 10.8 cm.
It belongs to the family Labrisomid Blennies or Labrisomidae.
The mimic blenny is native to Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean and is found in the Gulf of Mexico from Tuxpan, Veracruz, south and east to the Yucatán Peninsula and along the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula south into the Caribbean to Belize.
The mimic blenny has a robust body with a broad head that has a blunt snout, a large eye with a branched cirrus above each eye and two cirri on each side of the neck, a large mouth that is slightly slanted and is equipped with small teeth located behind an outer row of larger teeth and present on the sides of the palate.
They are brown with a greenish tinge and five brown to purple-black stripes that continue on the anal and dorsal fins.
The darker areas are covered with small white spots, and the base of the dorsal fin has a narrow dark stripe.
The fins of the males are reddish with few spots.
Females have green fins and are heavily spotted; males have red fins with a few spots and may turn an all-over black color during the breeding season.
They have a well-developed ocellus on the gill cover. Their anal fin has two spiny rays and 18 or 19 rays; their tail fin is rounded; their dorsal fin has 18 or 19 spiny rays and 9 to 12 rays; their short ventral fins have one spiny ray and three rays and are inserted in front of the pectoral fins, and the pectoral fins have 13 rays. They have 13 to 14 gill raker spines, the lateral line is visible in the front half of the body, the back half of the body is covered with smooth scales.
Reproduction is by oviposition, with females laying eggs in sheltered areas.
Similar species
The Mimic Blenny can be easily confused with a number of other labrisomid blennies, including Gobioclinus haitiensis (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1928), Gobioclinus gobio (Valenciennes, 18 36), Brockius albigenys (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1928) , which all lack an ocellus on the gill cover, Gobioclinus filamentosus (Springer, 1960), which, however, has a large black ocellus.
Small and large fish of Gobioclinus guppyi show a well-developed ocellus on the operculum.
Synonyms:
Clinus guppyi Norman, 1922 · unaccepted
Labrisomus guppyi (Norman, 1922) · unaccepted (synonym)
Populations have been found in a variety of habitats – tide pools, mixed sand and rock, low, overgrown coral reef, patch reefs and limestone slopes – in water no deeper than 8 meters.
The mimic blenny was collected in February 2023 in coastal waters off Noord, Aruba, its length was 8.1 cm., the species reaches a maximum length of 10.8 cm.
It belongs to the family Labrisomid Blennies or Labrisomidae.
The mimic blenny is native to Mexican waters of the Atlantic Ocean and is found in the Gulf of Mexico from Tuxpan, Veracruz, south and east to the Yucatán Peninsula and along the eastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula south into the Caribbean to Belize.
The mimic blenny has a robust body with a broad head that has a blunt snout, a large eye with a branched cirrus above each eye and two cirri on each side of the neck, a large mouth that is slightly slanted and is equipped with small teeth located behind an outer row of larger teeth and present on the sides of the palate.
They are brown with a greenish tinge and five brown to purple-black stripes that continue on the anal and dorsal fins.
The darker areas are covered with small white spots, and the base of the dorsal fin has a narrow dark stripe.
The fins of the males are reddish with few spots.
Females have green fins and are heavily spotted; males have red fins with a few spots and may turn an all-over black color during the breeding season.
They have a well-developed ocellus on the gill cover. Their anal fin has two spiny rays and 18 or 19 rays; their tail fin is rounded; their dorsal fin has 18 or 19 spiny rays and 9 to 12 rays; their short ventral fins have one spiny ray and three rays and are inserted in front of the pectoral fins, and the pectoral fins have 13 rays. They have 13 to 14 gill raker spines, the lateral line is visible in the front half of the body, the back half of the body is covered with smooth scales.
Reproduction is by oviposition, with females laying eggs in sheltered areas.
Similar species
The Mimic Blenny can be easily confused with a number of other labrisomid blennies, including Gobioclinus haitiensis (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1928), Gobioclinus gobio (Valenciennes, 18 36), Brockius albigenys (Beebe & Tee-Van, 1928) , which all lack an ocellus on the gill cover, Gobioclinus filamentosus (Springer, 1960), which, however, has a large black ocellus.
Small and large fish of Gobioclinus guppyi show a well-developed ocellus on the operculum.
Synonyms:
Clinus guppyi Norman, 1922 · unaccepted
Labrisomus guppyi (Norman, 1922) · unaccepted (synonym)
