A Blenny sp...?

Hello,

I was recently on vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina (the eastern coastline of North Carolina). I brought my seine with me, as I imagine quite a few of us do when we go on vacation , and did some seining in the Currituck Sound in Duck, NC. The water in the sound is a salt marsh that acts as a nursery for both saltwater and freshwater species. I didn't bring anything to measure the salinity, but I imagine this particular sound is much closer to qualifying as freshwater than saltwater. Either way, the Sound hosts a wide variety of fishes. One of my favorite things about going here is (besides the obvious beauty of the area) I always seem to catch something that I've never seen before. Here's the latest;



My first inclinations are that this fish is a Blenny sp. of some type. However, that is a very broad assessment and the only ID guide I have for the area is the Peterson Field Guide to Atlantic Coast Fishes. I'm not quite able to find a match in there. Any help would be appreciated.


-Nate

female crested blenny Hypleurochilus geminatus. looks very similar to striped blenny but this gal has cirri and the latter doesn't

Edited by fritz, 17 August 2010 - 01:55 PM.

I have no idea on the identification; however, all of my prospective grad schools are lined up on the Atlantic/Gulf coast (or a short drive from) because I've got a blenny and goby fever that needs to be cured.

Nice photo of a very charismatic fish; I don't think I will ever forget the ID of this one. I'm glad you brought the photo tank and seine on vacation -- I try and do the same!

Blake

Edited by blakemarkwell, 17 August 2010 - 03:02 PM.

female crested blenny Hypleurochilus geminatus. looks very similar to striped blenny but this gal has cirri and the latter doesn't

Thank you, Fritz. I very much appreciate the insight.

The overall appearance reminds me more of a female or juvenile Hypsoblennius hentz. All Hypleurochilus geminatus that I have encountered have been less mottled than this specimen and were often uniformly colored. Also, the cirri in your picture seem more consistent with hentz (though a closeup would help) as they will have a single cirrus above each eye that is somewhat flattened and will have filaments coming off of one side of it giving a feather-like appearance. In small individuals and females the cirri will be short with the feathering often not obvious. On a geminatus the cirri are more cylindrical with a large central filament and multiple smaller filaments coming off the base.

Either way -- nice catch!

Marcus

Edited by mzokan, 18 August 2010 - 08:10 PM.

Good points Marcus. Once again I am away from my books and photos but will try and check them this weekend. I have caught many feather blennies and it just doesn't "look" like one. I'm still leaning towards female crested. But we do agree that it's a blenny

I appreciate the input on this fish. This is the first fish in the suborder Blennioidei I've ever captured. It's prompted me to do a more in-depth search into the families that compose this suborder. A new fish, a new path.

OK. I now have access to my books and papers. My first gut reaction that it is a striped blenny, Chasmodes bosquianus, was correct. I incorrectly remembered if they have cirri or not - they do, small ones. Also the pointed snout is a good character. In addition, the number of segmented caudal fin rays quickly separates it from the other two genera. Sorry for the confusion and I hope Marcus agrees with me.

Good info Fritz, I will definitely agree with that! It very much has the appearance of a Striped blenny (more so than either the other two options) and well caudal ray counts...thats why you are the expert. I thought I had seen cirri on some Chasmodes I had kept, but a book I had claimed they didn't -- good to know my eyes weren't messin' with me.

Marcus

Looks like we can close the book on this one. Thanks!