Species: Lupinoblennius vinctus, Atlantic mangrove blenny
under eye: dark Y bar
Lupinoblennius vinctus (Poey, 1867)
Atlantic mangrove blenny
Body and head compressed; a single unbranched cirrus over eye (larger in male), no cirri on nape or over nostrils; front nostril tubular with short filament, rear nostril a raised rim; jaw teeth in single rows, fixed, bluntly pointed, with a canine tooth at rear of top and bottom jaws, canines larger in males; gill membranes free, forming a transverse flap under throat; dorsal fin XII, a rounded flap in front of upper part of 1st spine, 13-14, without a notch between spiny and soft parts, soft part of fin higher than spiny part; anal II, 14-16, in males the spines and all but the last 2-3 rays have a swollen fleshy tip; some rays of tail fin branched; lateral line in 2 parts, top part from top corner of operculum to under 9th spine, lower part along midline from above origin of anal fin, short (5-8 pores); no scales.
Grey brown; ~ 8 dark-edged square blotches along base of dorsal fin, which tend to connect with dark-edged vertical rectangles on lower body; Y shaped dark bar under eye; male with dark stripe along base of 1st 3 dorsal spines, and a dark stripe near outer margin of membrane between those spines.
Size: reaches 3.7 cm.
Habitat: mangroves and estuaries, entering freshwater.
Depth: 0-5 m.
A widespread Caribbean species; evidently has passed through the Panama Canal and established a population in locks at the Pacific entrance to the canal.
High Resolution Map Download
- Salinity
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- Freshwater
- Non Marine
- Brackish
- Inshore/Offshore
-
- Inshore
- Inshore Only
- Water Column Position
-
- Bottom only
- Bottom
- Habitat
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- Mangrove
- Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
- Rocks
- Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
- Freshwater
- Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
- Estuary
- Reef and soft bottom
- FishBase Habitat
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- Demersal
- Feeding Group
-
- Omnivore
- No Data
- Diet
-
- Detritus
- Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
- Benthic microalgae
- No Data
- Egg Type
-
- Benthic
- No data
- Pelagic larva
- Global Endemism
-
- All species
- Exotic (Introduced)
- TEP non-endemic
- Regional Endemism
-
- All species
- Continent only
- Continent
- Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
- Eastern Pacific non-endemic
- Residency
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- Vagrant
- Climate Zone
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- Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo)
- IUCN Red List
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- Near threatened
- Listed
- CITES
-
- Not listed
- Length Max
-
- 3.7
- Depth Range Min
-
- 0
- Depth Range Max
-
- 5
