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Species: Hypleurochilus pseudoaequipinnis, Atlantic oyster blenny

All Families:   All Genera:   All Species:

eye: 1 bushy cirrus
head: orange dots
D: deep notch, front - black spot
both jaws - rear canine
gill opening at side only
male: grey, orange spots upper body
female: 6 dark blotches + orange spots

Hypleurochilus pseudoaequipinnis Bath, 1994

Atlantic oyster blenny

Head large, blunt; body elongate, compressed; nostril with a simple cirrus; a single cirrus with 4-15 branches over eye; mouth opens at front, top margin of top lip free, that margin discontinuous at front; teeth like incisors, with a large curved canine at rear of each jaw; lower jaw with 5 pores on each side; gill membranes broadly fused on throat, gill opening ends at level of lower base of pectoral fin; dorsal fin with a deep notch between spiny and soft parts, spiny part distinctly lower than soft part, XI-XII, 13-14; pelvics I, 4; pectorals 14 rays; anal fin II, 14-15; 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.

Males greenish grey with small orange spots on upper body; female with 5-6 square blotches on upper side, each composed of 4 dark spots overlain by orange dots; both sexes without  orange dots on head; a dark spot at front of dorsal fin; a dark spot on the base of the pectoral; a dark spot at the base of the tail fin; a row of dark spots along the anal base.

Size: reaches 7.5 cm.

Habitat: mangroves and shallow rock outcrops; in turbid water and enters freshwater.

Depth: 0-2 m.

Endemic to the Greater Caribbean; evidently has passed through the Panama Canal, as a small population is present in disused lock chamber at the Pacific entrance to the Canal.


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Salinity
  • Freshwater
  • Brackish
  • Non Marine
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore Only
  • Inshore
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
  • Bottom only
Habitat
  • Freshwater
  • Estuary
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
  • Soft bottom (mud/sand/gravel/beach/estuary/mangrove/seagrass)
  • Mangrove
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef and soft bottom
  • Rocks
FishBase Habitat
  • Demersal
Feeding Group
  • Omnivore
  • No Data
Diet
  • Detritus
  • No Data
  • Mobile benthic crustacea (shrimps/crabs)
  • Benthic microalgae
Egg Type
  • No data
  • Benthic
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Exotic (Introduced)
  • TEP non-endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Eastern Pacific non-endemic
  • Continent only
  • Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) non-endemic
  • All species
  • Continent
Residency
  • Vagrant
Climate Zone
  • Equatorial (Costa Rica to Ecuador + Galapagos, Clipperton, Cocos, Malpelo)
IUCN Red List
  • Listed
  • Least concern
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 7.5
Depth Range Min
  • 0
Depth Range Max
  • 2