Species: Hypleurochilus geminatus, Crested Blenny

Hypleurochilus geminatus (Wood, 1825)

Crested Blenny

Head large, blunt, front profile steep and rounded; males with a large, arched fold of skin on each side of nape; body elongate, compressed; nostril with a long flap bearing 1-3 cirri; a single large cirrus over eye, longer than eye, main shaft rounded, with 3-7 simple branches; mouth opens at front; top margin of top lip free, that margin discontinuous at front; jaw teeth are elongate incisors, with a large curved canine at rear of each jaw; pores on preoperculum single (sometimes in doubles); gill membranes broadly fused on throat, gill opening ends at level of lower base of pectoral fin; dorsal fin XI-XIII, 14-15, with a slight notch between spiny and soft parts, spiny part distinctly lower than soft part; anal fin II, 16-17; pelvics I, 3; pectorals 13-14 rays; fin rays unbranched, except on tail fin; ; lateral line in 2 parts, 1st curved down behind end of pectoral, ends under last dorsal spines, 2nd from mid-flank to above ~middle of anal fin; no scales.

Dark brown with many indistinct small irregular orange spots, and indistinct bars on body; dark spot at front of dorsal fin.

Reaches 10.5 cm.

Lives on oyster reefs and inshore rocks in estuaries.

Depth range: 0-23 m.

New Jersey to Cuba.