Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean online information system

Español  Contact

Species: Chaenopsis limbaughi, Yellowface Pikeblenny

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

D XVIII-XXI, 31-36
male front D: 1-several ocelli
pectoral 12-13

Chaenopsis limbaughi Robins & Randall, 1965

Yellowface Pikeblenny

Body very elongate; head long, low, its profile not ascending much to dorsal fin origin; from above, snout is long, broadly U shaped; pore on center of head between rear half of eyes is before the pair of pores immediately above the eye; no cirri on head; long mouth, reaching far behind eye, tip of lower jaw projecting; dorsal fin often elevated at front, with XIX (VIII-XXI), 34 (31-36); anal fin II, 35 (33-37); tail rounded; dorsal and anal joined to tail fin; pelvics I (internal), 2-3, inserted before pectoral base; pectoral 12-13; all fin rays unbranched; no lateral line; no scales.

Male: front of head back to between eyes yellow, under head yellow; throat membranes white, yellow or black, with blue rays; with a white-ringed black ocellus (sometimes multiple ocelli) between dorsal spines I-II, and above that the upper 1/3 of the membrane between those spines is orange; iris pink; body tan, a narrow yellowish stripe along mid-flank with paried blackish blotches superimposed on that and ~12 dusky saddles along top of back. Female: tan, with the body stripe and bars, yellow cast to head, yellow under the throat; pink iris; a small indistinct black spot at the front of the dorsal fin.

Reaches 8.2 cm.

Found in worm tubes and free ranging in rubble and sand around reefs.

Depth range: 3-51 m, usually in < 10 m.

The Bahamas, the Caribbean mainland, Cayman Is and the Lesser Antilles.


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
  • Sand & gravel
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Soft bottom only
  • Barnacles & worm tubes
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • 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
  • Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Least concern
  • Listed
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 8.2
Depth Range Min
  • 3
Depth Range Max
  • 51