| Tripterygiidae (Triplefin blennies), subfamily: Tripterygiinae |
| 4.4 cm SL (male/unsexed) |
|
demersal; marine; depth range 0 - 40 m |
| Southwest Pacific: mainland New Zealand. |
|
Dorsal spines (total): 20-23; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-13; Anal spines: 1-1; Anal soft rays: 24-25. Pinkish over head and body with faint brown lines on head, nine evenly spaced reddish brown vertical bands on body. Dorsal fins pinkish with a thin colorless stripe running horizontally. Distinguished from other triplefins, other than Notoclinops caerulepunctus by the bright blue eyes. |
| Adults prefer areas of broken rock, steep rock faces and overhangs in areas without large algae and a thick cover of crustose coralline algae. They feed on small crustaceans (e.g. amphipods and copepods). They remove parasites from larger fish. Males are territorial during the breeding season dutifully guarding the eggs in the nests (Ref. 9003). Eggs are hemispherical and covered with numerous sticky threads that anchor them in the algae on the nesting sites (Ref. 240). Larvae are planktonic which occur primarily in shallow, nearshore waters (Ref. 94114). |
|
Least Concern (LC); Date assessed: 06 May 2010 Ref. (130435)
|
| harmless |
|
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