Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system

Español  Contact

Species: Gobioclinus guppyi, Mimic Blenny

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

fins: male red, female green
distinct opercular ocellus
body bars onto D & A, 2nd bar narrow
C base: thin dark bar
D XIX, 1st spine short
gut lining white

Gobioclinus guppyi (Norman, 1922)

Mimic Blenny

Body robust; head broad, snout blunt; eye large; a branched cirrus over each eye, 2 or more cirri on each side of nape; mouth large, slightly oblique, rear of top jawbone exposed, not in a sheath; patches of small teeth behind outer row of large teeth on upper jaw; teeth present on sides of roof of mouth, some at least are distinctly larger than teeth at front of roof of mouth; usually 13-14 gill rakers; large fish with > 2 pores at tip of chin; notch between spines and rays of dorsal fin, XIX (XVIII-XIX), 10-12; 1st spine shorter than all, but last few spines; anal fin II, usually 19; pelvic fins with 1 internal spine, 3 soft rays, length of 3rd ray >½ length of longest ray, inserted before pectoral base; all fin rays unbranched; pectoral rays usually 13; 48-53 lateral line scales; lateral line tubes or canals at least on front of body; smooth scales on rear of body.

Body brown with a greenish cast, barred with brown to purplish black, sometimes males almost entirely black; a well developed ocellus on operculum of small and large fish; body with ~5 dark bars that extend onto dorsal and anal fins, 2nd bar narrow; lining of body cavity white, with scattered dark dots; base of tail fin with a narrow dark bar; females fins pale greenish, heavily spotted; males fins reddish with a few spots; dorsal fin without front spot or ocellus.

Reaches 10.8 cm.

Lives in a variety of habitats: tide pools, rock mixed with sand, low overgrown coral, patch reefs, limestone slope.

Depth range: 0-8 m.

Florida to the S Caribbean, possibly Brazil.


High Resolution Map Download

Species Data Create Report Export as Word File Export as Excel File
Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
Habitat
  • Rocks
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Sponges
  • Corals
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef and soft bottom
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Reef Associated
Feeding Group
  • Carnivore
  • Data
Diet
  • Data
  • Bony fishes
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
  • Mobile benthic worms
Egg Type
  • Benthic
  • Data
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Continent
  • Continent + Island (s)
  • GC endemic
  • Island (s)
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 10.8
Depth Range Min
  • 0
Depth Range Max
  • 8