Aspidontus taeniatus, False cleanerfish : aquarium

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Aspidontus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834

False cleanerfish
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Aspidontus taeniatus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Aspidontus taeniatus (False cleanerfish)
Aspidontus taeniatus
Picture by Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy/D. Terver

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Blenniiformes (Blennies) > Blenniidae (Combtooth blennies) > Blenniinae
Etymology: Aspidontus: Greek, aspis, -idos = shield + Latin, dens, dentis = teeth (Ref. 45335).
More on authors: Quoy & Gaimard.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 1 - 25 m (Ref. 90102). Tropical; 32°N - 32°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 11.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9710)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 10 - 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 26-28; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 25 - 28. Bears an amazing resemblance to the cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus. Distinguished from L. dimidiatus by the position of its mouth, which is terminal in the wrasse but under the snout in the blenny.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults are found solitary or in small groups (Ref. 90102) in lagoons, subtidal reef flats and outer reef slopes (where it occurs to depths of over 20 m). Often in pairs in empty worm tubes or narrow holes. They mimic the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus and nip fins, skin and scales of other fishes (Ref. 9710). They even copy the motion of the cleaner wrasse that may induce other fish to come close, then target their scales or mucus for a feed, biting and quickly retreating to the corals before the victim realizes that it was tricked; experienced fish recognize imposters and often give it a chase (Ref. 48636). Diet is supplemented with benthic invertebrates and zooplankton (Ref. 94105). Also feed on tubeworms and demersal fish eggs. Oviparous. Eggs are demersal and adhesive (Ref. 205), and are attached to the substrate via a filamentous, adhesive pad or pedestal (Ref. 94114). Larvae are planktonic, often found in shallow, coastal waters (Ref. 94114).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Distinct pairing (Ref. 205).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Williams, Jeffrey T. | Collaborators

Smith-Vaniz, W.F., B.C. Victor and G.R. Allen, 2020. Aggressive mimicry in Aspidontus and Plagiotremus (Pisces: Blenniidae): some mimetic phenotypes are not phylogenetically informative. J. Ocean Sci. Found. 35:118-128. (Ref. 123078)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 24 March 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 25.1 - 29.3, mean 28.5 °C (based on 2575 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.6250   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00562 (0.00258 - 0.01228), b=3.06 (2.87 - 3.25), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.8   ±0.51 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 122 [63, 203] mg/100g; Iron = 0.806 [0.483, 1.330] mg/100g; Protein = 18.4 [17.3, 19.4] %; Omega3 = 0.103 [0.058, 0.181] g/100g; Selenium = 22.6 [11.3, 49.0] μg/100g; VitaminA = 225 [82, 635] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.57 [1.05, 2.26] mg/100g (wet weight);