Order BLENNIIFORMES: Families CLINIDAE, LABRISOMIDAE and CHAENOPSIDAE

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v. 9.0 – 4 Feb. 2022  view/download PDF

Family CLINIDAE Kelp Blennies
27 genera/subgenera · 88 species

Blennioclinus Gill 1860    blennio-, referring to “blenniform head” of B. brachycephalus; Clinus, original genus of that species                 

Blennioclinus brachycephalus (Valenciennes 1836)    brachys, short; cephalus, head, referring to “brevity” (translation) of its head, described as 5½ times in TL                      

Blennioclinus stella Smith 1946    a star, allusion not explained nor evident                           

Blennophis Swainson  , blenny, derived from blennos, mucus, referring to scaleless body of blenniids; ophis, snake, referring to eel-like shape of B. anguillaris                                 

Blennophis anguillaris (Valenciennes 1836)    eel-like, referring to its elongate and cylindrical body, which “give it something of the appearance of an eel” (translation)

Blennophis striatus (Gilchrist & Thompson 1908)    furrowed or grooved (i.e., striped), referring to longitudinal bands on body

Cancelloxus Smith 1961    cancellosus, mesh-like; loxus, slanting, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to 12 light-brown saddles surrounded by white rectangular areas along back of C. burrelli, which, when seen from above, may look like meshes

Cancelloxus burrelli Smith 1961    in honor of Cyril J. Burrell, Esq. (no other information available), “who has constantly provided valuable aid in [Smith’s] researches”                   

Cancelloxus elongatus Heemstra & Wright 1986    referring to its elongate, compressed body

Cancelloxus longior Prochazka & Griffiths 1991    longer, referring to its “extremely elongate” body form

Cirrhibarbis Valenciennes 1836    cirrhis, curl or tendril; barbis, barbel, referring to palmate tentacle with 4-12 cirri behind each eye, spatulate tentacle at each forward nostril, and eight barbels on chin

Cirrhibarbis capensis Valenciennes 1836    ensis, suffix denoting place: Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, type locality

Climacoporus Barnard 1935    climacis, ladder; porus, pore, referring to lateral line, a “broad, well-marked canal opening by paired pores, the upper and lower pores opposite one another …, and joined by a slight cuticular ridge, thus resembling a ladder”

Climacoporus navalis Barnard 1935    naval (or ships or the navy), presumably referring to how it was collected from the training ship General Botha “on entering the naval dry-dock” of Simonstown, False Bay, South Africa

Clinitrachus Swainson 1839    Clinus, a clinid blenny that resembles Trachinus, genus of weever-fishes (Perciformes: Trachinidae)

Clinitrachus argentatus (Risso 1810)    silvery, referring to silvery blotches on body

Clinoporus Barnard 1927    Clinus, closely resembling that genus; porus, pore, referring to double line pores on lateral line

Clinoporus biporosus (Gilchrist & Thompson 1908)    bi-, two; porosus, pored, referring to double line pores on lateral line

Clinus Cuvier 1816    ancient Greek name for blennies, etymology not clear, often said to derive from clino, bend, slant or slope, referring to sloping forehead

Clinus acuminatus (Bloch & Schneider 1801)    sharpened or pointed, referring to pointed head formed by wedge-shaped snout

Clinus agilis Smith 1931    quick or nimble, an “active and shy little fish lives in the seagrass on the mud-banks of the river and is captured with difficulty”

Clinus arborescens Gilchrist & Thompson 1908    arbor, tree; –escens, becoming, i.e., tree-like, referring to its orbital tentacles, a “rounded tapering stalk with a long fringe, often branched”

Clinus berrisfordi Penrith 1967    in honor of marine biologist C. D. Berrisford, who collected type with Penrith’s husband

Clinus brevicristatus Gilchrist & Thompson 1908    brevis, short; cristatus, crested, referring to dorsal crest lower than last spine of dorsal fin

Clinus cottoides Valenciennes 1836    oides, having the form of: Cottus, genus of sculpins, referring to its short, fat body and large head, giving it “at first glance, some resemblance to the sculpins” (translation)

Clinus exasperatus Holleman, von der Heyden & Zsilavecz 2012    exasperate, referring to “numerous, unsuccessful attempts by the second author to obtain additional specimens” (described from only one specimen)

Clinus helenae (Smith 1946)    matronym not identified, perhaps in honor of Smith’s mother-in-law, Helen Evelyn Zondagh (1877-1951)

Clinus heterodon Valenciennes 1836    heteros, different; odon, teeth, referring to teeth in a single series, except in the middle, where they form a group

Clinus latipennis Valenciennes 1836    latus, wide; pennis, fin, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to soft portion of dorsal fin more elevated than spinous portion and/or to dorsal fin extending on (i.e., continuous with) caudal

Clinus musaicus Holleman, von der Heyden & Zsilavecz 2012    mosaic, referring to reticulated color pattern, “reminiscent of mosaics”

Clinus nematopterus Günther 1861    nemato-, thread; pterus, fin, referring to nine anterior dorsal fin spines, “provided with a skinny lobe composed of filaments”

Clinus ornatus Gilchrist & Thompson 1908    decorated, presumably referring to its “usually vivid” color

Clinus robustus Gilchrist & Thompson 1908    stout or strong, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to “erect and strong” anterior spines of dorsal fin

Clinus rotundifrons Barnard 1937    rotundus, round; frons, forehead, presumably referring to “rather abruptly descending” profile with blunt snout

Clinus spatulatus Bennett 1983    spatulate (having a broad, rounded end), referring to shape of supraorbital tentacle

Clinus superciliosus (Linnaeus 1758)    super, over and above; ciliosus, haughty or having a raised eyebrow, referring to prominent cirri above eyes, sometimes quite bushy in mature adults

Clinus taurus Gilchrist & Thompson 1908    bull, allusion not explained, probably referring to mature specimens having “rather a fierce aspect,” as suggested by the authors’ proposed vernacular name, Bull Klip

Clinus venustris Gilchrist & Thompson 1908    lovely, pleasing or beautiful, referring to its coloration, “prettily variegated with red, bright-blue, and white and yellow markings on body and vertical fins,” and “bright orange blotches at base of dorsal, or longitudinal irregular brown bands crossed by broad confluent patches of the same shade,” their tints “always very pleasingly arranged”

Clinus woodi (Smith 1946)    patronym not identified but almost certainly in honor of friend Alexander Thomas Wood (1872-1957), Xora Mouth, South Africa (type locality), who provided specimens and owned a cottage that Smith frequently used as a base for fieldwork

Cologrammus Gill 1893    colos, curtailed; grammus, line, referring to “imperfect” lateral line (sloping gently downwards, ceasing under 10th dorsal spine)

Cologrammus flavescens (Hutton 1872)    yellowish, referring to pale yellow coloration                    

Cristiceps Valenciennes 1836    crista, crest or crown; ceps, head, referring to first dorsal fin originating above eye and behind supraorbital tentacles

Cristiceps argyropleura Kner 1865    argyros, silver; pleuron, side, referring to large silver blotches along the sides

Cristiceps aurantiacus Castelnau 1879    orange-colored, a fish of a “beautiful orange colour, with the fins of a fine yellow”

Cristiceps australis Valenciennes 1836    southern, referring to its distribution off southern Australia

Ericentrus Gill 1893    eri-, very; kentron, thorn or spine, referring to many spines (~40) of dorsal fin

Ericentrus rubrus (Hutton 1872)    red, to rose body coloration

Fucomimus Smith 1946    Fucus, genus of brown algae or seaweed; mimus, imitator, described as “abundant in weeds,” presumably referring to its variable cryptic coloring of reddish, green or brown

Fucomimus mus (Gilchrist & Thompson 1908)    mouse, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to small size (described as a “little fish” at 41-85 mm in length); the authors’ proposed vernacular name is Mouse Klipfish

Gibbonsia Cooper 1864    ia, belonging to: William P. Gibbons (1812-1897), physician, naturalist and founding member of the California Academy of Sciences, whose 1854 descriptions of viviparous fishes (Ovalenteria: Embiotocidae) “have only of late been awarded the credit they deserve”

Gibbonsia elegans (Cooper 1864)    elegant, “beautiful little fish” whose “varied and elegant coloration would make them beautiful objects for a marine aquarium”                        

Gibbonsia metzi Hubbs 1927    in honor of “well-known” geneticist Charles W. Metz (1889-1975), University of Pennsylvania, “the first to differentiate clearly between the three forms of the genus”

Gibbonsia montereyensis Hubbs 1927    ensis, suffix denoting place: near Monterey, California (USA), type locality

Heteroclinus Castelnau 1872    hetero-, different; Clinus, type genus of family but possibly referring to how this genus differs (shorter, less elongate body) from Ophiclinus, proposed in same publication

Heteroclinus adelaidae Castelnau 1872    of Adelaide, city near type locality, St. Vincent Gulf, South Australia

Heteroclinus antinectes (Günther 1861)    anti-, opposed; nectes, swimmer, allusion not explained, possibly referring to 23 soft rays in anal fin, as opposed to 19-20 of Clinitrachus argentatus, its presumed congener at the time

Heteroclinus argyrospilos Hoese & Pogonoski 2021    argyros, silver; spilos, spot, referring to silver spots on belly and lower surface of head and pectoral-fin base

Heteroclinus eckloniae (McKay 1970)    etymology not explained, presumably of Ecklonia, a genus of kelp (brown algae), referring to type specimen ”removed from amongst brown kelp weed torn up by a craypot set in eighteen fathoms”

Heteroclinus equiradiatus (Milward 1960)    aequalis, equal; radiatus, rayed, referring to three ventral-fin rays of equal length (unlike Australian congeners)

Heteroclinus heptaeolus (Ogilby 1885)    diminutive of hepta, seven, presumably referring to seven black spots on each side along base of dorsal fin

Heteroclinus johnstoni (Saville-Kent 1886)    in honor of statistician and scientist Robert Mackenzie Johnston (1843-1918), “to whom science is so much indebted for the already advanced state of our knowledge concerning the fish fauna” of Tasmania (per Saville-Kent in a more-detailed description that appeared later that year)

Heteroclinus kuiteri Hoese & Rennis 2006    in honor of Australian underwater photographer Rudolf “Rudie” Kuiter (b. 1943), who provided much of the type material and “valuable” material of other Australian clinids

Heteroclinus macrophthalmus Hoese 1976    macro-, large; ophthalmus, eye, referring to larger eye compared to H. adelaidae

Heteroclinus nasutus (Günther 1861)    large-nosed, presumably referring to subconical snout, “somewhat longer than the eye”

Heteroclinus perspicillatus (Valenciennes 1836)    spectacled, referring to eyeglass-like marking on each side of nape above operculum, described as a round and black spot, surrounded by a yellow circle, similar to the marking on the Indian (or Spectacled) Cobra, Naja naja

Heteroclinus puellarum (Scott 1955)    genitive plural of puella, girl, referring to the three collectors of holotype, all female: Miss B. McCormick, Miss J. Paterson and Miss B. Townsend (no other information available about them)

Heteroclinus roseus (Günther 1861)    rosy, referring to rose-colored crossbars on head, body, and anal and pectoral fins

Heteroclinus tristis (Klunzinger 1872)    sad, mournful, or dark or dull in color or tone, referring to uniform blackish-brown color

Heteroclinus whiteleggii (Ogilby 1894)    in honor of Ogilby’s friend, naturalist Thomas Whitelegge (1850-1927), who collected type under stones between tidemarks on oyster beds of Jervis Bay, New South Wales, Australia

Heteroclinus wilsoni (Lucas 1891)    in honor of John Bracebridge Wilson (1828-1895), headmaster and naturalist, who collected type while dredging for shellfish, seaweeds and sponges near Port Phillip Heads, Victoria, Australia

Heterostichus Girard 1854    hetero-, different; stichus, rank or row, allusion not explained; according to Jordan & Evermann (1898), referring to “differentiation of the anterior dorsal spines,” which constitute an apparently distinct fin

Heterostichus rostratus Girard 1854    beaked, presumably referring to long and low head with produced, very acute snout

Muraenoclinus Smith 1946    muraena, Latin for moray eel, but probably used here as term for eels in general, presumably referring to its moray-like shape, but also described by Smith (1950) as “difficult to capture, agile as an eel”; Clinus, type genus of family

Muraenoclinus dorsalis (Bleeker 1859)    of the back, described as the only species of Clinus (original genus) with a single soft dorsal-fin ray

Myxodes Cuvier 1829    slimy, referring to slimy mucus on skin, to which blennies owe their Greek name of Blennius

Myxodes cristatus Valenciennes 1836    crested, referring to three elongate anterior dorsal fin spines, which form a kind of crest on head

Myxodes ornatus Stephens & Springer 1974    decorated, presumably referring to dusky bands on body and dorsal and anal fins, absent on both congeners

Myxodes viridis Valenciennes 1836    green, referring to upper-body color in life (brown in alcohol)

Ophiclinops Whitley 1932    ops, appearance, similar to and previously placed in Ophiclinus

Ophiclinops hutchinsi George & Springer 1980    in honor of Western Australian Museum (Perth) fish curator J. Barry Hutchins (b. 1946), who collected all the type specimens and allowed George and Springer to describe the species

Ophiclinops pardalis (McCulloch & Waite 1918)    like a leopard, presumably referring to leopard-like spots on body

Ophiclinops varius (McCulloch & Waite 1918)    variable, presumably referring to irregular dark lines and dots on body, which are “variable and may be absent” 

Ophiclinus Castelnau 1872    ophis, snake, referring to very elongate body of O. antarcticus; Clinus, type genus of family

Ophiclinus antarcticus Castelnau 1872    southern, referring to distribution off coasts of South and Western Australia

Ophiclinus brevipinnis George & Springer 1980    brevis, short; pinnis, fin, having the shortest pectoral fin in the genus

Ophiclinus gabrieli Waite 1906    in honor of Charles John Gabriel (1879-1963), Australian pharmacist and conchologist, who collected type while dredging for molluscs

Ophiclinus gracilis Waite 1906    slender, allusion not explained but clearly referring to its elongate body

Ophiclinus ningulus George & Springer 1980    Latin for nobody, referring to “lack of distinctive characters that might otherwise serve as a basis for a scientific name”

Ophiclinus pectoralis George & Springer 1980     of the breast, referring to distinctive coloration of pectoral fins (darkly colored proximal portion sharply demarcated from distal pale portion)

Pavoclinus Smith 1946    pavo, presumably named for type species, P. pavo; clinus, a clinid blenny

Subgenus Pavoclinus

Pavoclinus caeruleopunctatus Zsilavecz 2001    caeruleus, blue; punctatus, spotted, referring to vivid blue in front of and behind eye and usually on flanks of living specimens

Pavoclinus graminis (Gilchrist & Thompson 1908)    grass, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its occurrence in “weedy rockpools” and/or its green coloration; the authors’ proposed vernacular name is Grass Klipfish

Pavoclinus laurentii (Gilchrist & Thompson 1908)    latinization of Lawrence, in honor of Master Lawrence Robinson, who caught type specimens at Winkle Spruit (now Winklespruit), a seaside resort in South Africa [as used here, “Master” probably refers to a boy under age 12]

Pavoclinus litorafontis Penrith 1965    litoris, beach; fontis, fountain, Latin transliteration of Strandfontein, South Africa, type locality

Pavoclinus myae Christensen 1978    in honor of Mya van Harten, for “continuous help and support” during the course of Christensen’s studies; she was his fiancée at the time (Mike Christensen, pers. comm.)

Pavoclinus pavo (Gilchrist & Thompson 1908)    peacock, allusion not explained, presumably referring to large nuchal crest on males (like the head ornament of male peacocks) and/or dark ocellated spots at base of dorsal fin

Pavoclinus profundus Smith 1961    deep, presumably referring to capture at 20 fathoms (36.6 m)

Pavoclinus smalei Heemstra & Wright 1986    in honor of friend and colleague Malcolm J. Smale, who assisted in the SCUBA collections of this and several other new species, an “ever cheerful field worker and extremely competent diver-biologist”

Subgenus Labroclinus Smith 1946    labrosus, thick-lipped, presumably referring to prominent skinny flap on lower jaw at symphysis; clinus, a clinid blenny

Pavoclinus mentalis (Gilchrist & Thompson 1908)    relating to the chin, referring to prominent skinny flap on lower jaw at symphysis                         

Peronedys Steindachner 1883    etymology not explained, possibly derived from perone, pin or anything pointed for piercing, referring to any or all of the following: elongate body, gradually tapering almost to a point; dorsal fin consisting mostly of spines; pelvic fin, which consists of a single, short ray

Peronedys anguillaris Steindachner 1883    eel-like, referring to long, eel-like body                                   

Ribeiroclinus Pinto 1965    in honor Pinto’s late colleague, ichthyologist Paulo de Miranda Ribeiro (1901-1965), National Museum of Brazil; Clinus, type genus of family

Ribeiroclinus eigenmanni (Jordan 1888)    in honor of ichthyologist Carl H. Eigenmann (1863-1927), Jordan’s former assistant, “who has contributed a good deal to our knowledge of the fishes of tropical America”                          

Smithichthys Hubbs 1952    in honor of ichthyologist J.L.B. Smith (1897-1968), for his “fine work” on South African clinids; ichthys, fish [author is Clark Hubbs, son of Carl]                        

Smithichthys fucorum (Gilchrist & Thompson 1908)    orum, belonging to: Fucus, genus of brown algae or seaweed, referring to how it “appears to frequent the vicinity of seaweed, and its colouring and general appearance render it almost indistinguishable from the fronds of weed among which it lives”

Springeratus Shen 1971    atus, having the nature of: Shen’s “ichthyological colleague” (and blenny taxonomist) Victor G. Springer (b. 1928), U.S. National Museum                                    

Springeratus polyporatus Fraser 1972    poly, many; poratus, pored, referring to numerous cephalic head pores

Springeratus xanthosoma (Bleeker 1857)    xanthos, yellow; soma, body, referring to yellow coloration in alcohol (reddish-brown in life)          

Sticharium Günther 1867    etymology not explained, presumably –ium, adjectival suffix; stichus, line, rank or row, allusion not evident, perhaps referring to long line of dorsal-fin spines (also, a sticharium is a vestment or tunic, but that interpretation does not seem to apply)                   

Sticharium clarkae George & Springer 1980    in honor of ichthyologist Eugenie Clark (1922-2015), University of Maryland, for her “continued guidance and encouragement” of the senior author

Sticharium dorsale Günther 1867    of the back, presumably referring to long dorsal fin, “formed by pungent spines only”                          

Xenopoclinus Smith 1948    xenos, strange and pous, foot, referring to pelvic fins “resembling a webbed foot”; clinus, a clinid goby                          

Xenopoclinus kochi Smith 1948    in honor of malacologist H. J. Koch (Somerset West, South Africa), who collected type with his wife Anne during field work in conchology                      

Xenopoclinus leprosus Smith 1961    scabby, presumably referring to body, including belly, “sparsely covered with minute thin cycloid scales, nowhere imbricate or regular”


Family LABRISOMIDAE
18 genera/subgenera · 130 species

Alloclinus Hubbs 1927    allo-, another; Clinus, type genus of Clinidae, i.e., a new genus of Clinidae (family at time of description)

Alloclinus holderi (Lauderbach 1907)    in honor of American naturalist, conservationist and writer Charles Frederick Holder (1851-1915), Pasadena, California (USA), who helped acquire fishes at Santa Catalina Island (California), presumably including type of this one

Auchenionchus Gill 1860    auchen, neck or nape; onchos, protuberance or tubercle, presumably referring to small nuchal tentacle of A. variolosus [originally spelled Anchenionchus, believed to be a misprint since at least 1898; corrected spelling is now in prevailing usage]

Auchenionchus crinitus (Jenyns 1841)    hairy, referring to tentacles on nape and nostril, each consisting of eight short bristles, “all separate to the root”

Auchenionchus microcirrhis (Valenciennes 1836)    micro-, small; cirrhis, curl or tendril, referring to small tentacles (whisker-like structures) on nostril and nape     

Auchenionchus variolosus (Valenciennes 1836)    variegated, referring to coloration in life, with numerous black spots on a yellow body (and on tongue and inside of cheeks)

Brockius Hubbs 1953    ius, belonging to: Vernon E. Brock (1912-1971), ichthyologist-herpetologist, who collected type of B. striatus and “developed a collecting technique satisfactory to sample its habitat” (rocky bottom slightly below low-tide line)                      

Brockius albigenys (Beebe & Tee-Van 1928)    albus, white; genys, cheek, referring to large white, black-bordered spot on cheek

Brockius nigricinctus (Howell Rivero 1936)    nigri-, black; cinctus, girdle or belt, referring to “ribbonlike bands” that mark its body

Brockius striatus (Hubbs 1953)    striped, referring to striped color phase (life coloration is variable based on habitat)                       

Calliclinus Gill 1860    calli-, beautiful, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to colors and/or color pattern of C. geniguttatus; Clinus (Clinidae), original genus of that species

Calliclinus geniguttatus (Valenciennes 1836)    genys, cheek; guttatus, spotted, referring to speckling of many small black dots on cheeks

Calliclinus nudiventris Cervigón & Pequeño 1979    nudus, bare or naked; ventris, belly, referring to scaleless, elongated triangular area on belly, directly behind ventral fins

Cottoclinus McCosker, Stephens & Rosenblatt 2003    Cottus, genus of sculpins, referring to its sculpin-like appearance; Clinus, ancient Greek name for blennies                           

Cottoclinus canops McCosker, Stephens & Rosenblatt 2003    kanon, rule or standard; ops, eye, referring to “normal structure” of cornea, i.e., lacking fleshy pigmented vertical bar across eye separating two flat windows as in the related Dialommus                                   

Cryptotrema Gilbert 1890    kryptos, secret or hidden; trema, hole, referring to anterior portion of lateral line of C. corallinum, “which runs on a series of enlarged scales having no externally visible pores”

Cryptotrema corallinum Gilbert 1890    coralline, referring to irregular narrow longitudinal streaks of “bright coral red” on body

Cryptotrema seftoni Hubbs 1954    in honor of banker Joseph W. Sefton, Jr. (1882-1966), San Diego, California, USA, “who has done much to promote the investigation of the marine fauna and flora of the coasts of California and Baja California” (type was dredged from aboard Sefton’s yacht Orca)

Dialommus Gilbert 1891    dia-, divided; l, presumably added for euphony; omma, eye, referring to cornea of D. fuscus “divided by an oblique pigmented band into an anterior lower and posterior upper half”

Dialommus fuscus Gilbert 1891    dark or dusky, referring to brownish color above and on sides, becoming blackish on head and/or dusky fins

Dialommus macrocephalus (Günther 1861)    macro-, large or long; cephalus, head, presumably referring to width of head, described as “nearly as broad as long,” its crown “broad and flat”                        

Gobioclinus Gill 1860    gobio, referring to gudgeon-like appearance of G. gobio; Clinus (Clinidae), original genus of that species

Gobioclinus bucciferus (Poey 1868)    bucca, cheek; fero, to bear, presumably referring to large mouth, reaching beyond middle of eye

Gobioclinus dendriticus (Reid 1935)    dendritic, referring to its orbital appendage, a broad, leaf-like pad with 5-9 filaments superiorly

Gobioclinus filamentosus (Springer 1960)    referring to long, filamentous first three spines of dorsal fin

Gobioclinus gobio (Valenciennes 1836)    gudgeon, referring to its gudgeon-like appearance

Gobioclinus guppyi (Norman 1922)    in honor of naturalist Plantagenet Lechmere Guppy (1871-1934, son of the civil engineer who discovered the Guppy, Poecilia reticulata), who collected type and sent it to the British Museum

Gobioclinus haitiensis (Beebe & Tee-Van 1928)    ensis, suffix denoting place: Port-au-Prince Bay, Haiti, type locality   

Gobioclinus kalisherae (Jordan 1904)    in honor of Emilia Kalisher (1868-1959), painter, San Francisco, California (USA), named at the request of her future husband, Joseph Cheesman Thompson (1874-1943), U.S. Navy medical officer (neurosurgeon), amateur zoologist-archaeologist, co-founder of the Zoological Society of San Diego, psychoanalyst, and Burmese cat breeder          

Haptoclinus Böhlke & Robins 1974    hapto, join or fasten to, referring to how H. apectolophus caused the authors to “unite family units” since it presents characters common to three blenny families (Clinidae, Tripterygiidae and Chaenopsidae); Clinus, ancient Greek name for blennies, used as a “combining form in coining many generic names for blennioid fishes”

Haptoclinus apectolophus Böhlke & Robins 1974    apektos, unkempt or uncombed; lophos, mane or crest, referring to uneven distribution of anterior dorsal-fin spines, consisting of four parts

Haptoclinus dropi Baldwin & Robertson 2013    of DROP, acronym for the Smithsonian Institution’s Deep Reef Observation Project; this blenny is said to the first of numerous new species that will be described from DROP submersible research in the southern Caribbean

Labrisomus Swainson 1839    etymology not explained, perhaps labri-, Labrus (wrasse) and soma, body, referring to superficial resemblance with wrasses in general or Labrus in particular

Labrisomus conditus Sazima, Carvalho-Filho, Gasparini & Sazima 2009    hidden, referring to its previous misidentification as L. nuchipinnis by most authors who dealt with specimens from Fernando de Noronha Archipelago

Labrisomus cricota Sazima, Gasparini & Moura 2002    Cricota, childhood nickname of fish ecologist Cristina Sazima, University of Campinas (Campinas, Brazil), diver companion who collected the first specimen shown to be distinct from the more widespread L. nuchipinnis [presumably a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]

Labrisomus fernandezianus (Guichenot 1848)    ianus, belonging to: Juan Fernández Islands, southeastern Pacific, only known area of occurrence

Labrisomus jenkinsi (Heller & Snodgrass 1903)    in honor of Oliver Peebles Jenkins (1850-1935), physiology professor at Stanford University

Labrisomus multiporosus Hubbs 1953    multi-, many; porosus, pored, referring to many lateral-line pores on head

Labrisomus nuchipinnis (Quoy & Gaimard 1824)    nuchi-, nuchal; pinnis, fin, presumably referring to dorsal fin commencing near the nape

Labrisomus philippii (Steindachner 1866)    patronym not identified, possibly in honor of Rodolpho (or Rudolph) A. Philippi (1808-1904), German-Chilean paleontologist and zoologist (type locality is off the coast of Chile), or his brother Bernhard Eunom Philippi (1811-1852), naturalist, explorer and colonization agent for Chile, or his son Federico Philippi (1838-1910), also a biologist in Chile

Labrisomus pomaspilus Springer & Rosenblatt 1965    poma, operculum; spilos, spot, referring to its opercular ocellus

Labrisomus socorroensis Hubbs 1953    ensis, suffix denoting place: Socorro Island, eastern Pacific, type locality [originally misspelled soccorroensis with a extra “c”; corrected spelling is in prevailing usage]

Labrisomus wigginsi Hubbs 1953    in honor of botanist Ira L. Wiggins (1899-1987), Stanford University, who collected type

Labrisomus xanti Gill 1860    in honor of John Xantus de Vesey (1825-1894), Hungarian exile and zoologist, who collected type; Gill praised his “worth and abilities,” obtaining a collection of terrestrial and marine animals from México, including many new species, all in the “highest state of preservation,” despite many obstacles and the “present condition of affairs” in México

Malacoctenus Gill 1860    malacos, soft; cteno, comb, referring to pectiniform row of filaments at nape of M. delalandii

Malacoctenus africanus Cadenat 1951    African, first collected (no types known) off Africa’s west coast (Senegal)

Malacoctenus aurolineatus Smith 1957    auro-, gold; lineatus, lined, referring to reddish-gold lines on lower sides of body

Malacoctenus boehlkei Springer 1959    in honor of James E. Böhlke (1930-1982), Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, who brought a specimen of this species to Springer’s attention and gave “considerable assistance in curatorial matters”

Malacoctenus brunoi Guimarães, Nunan & Gasparini 2010    in honor of Bruno Álvares da Silva Lobo (1884-1945), director of Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who organized and participated in the “pioneering” Barroso Expedition (1918) to Trindade Island (where this blenny is endemic)

Malacoctenus carrowi Wirtz 2014    in honor of Frank Carrow, “whose interest in marine conservation led to his creation and funding of the Carrow Foundation, a charitable organization that supports a broad range of marine conservation activities” (Wirtz auctioned off the right to name this blenny)

Malacoctenus costaricanus Springer 1959    anus, belonging to: Costa Rica, only known area of occurrence

Malacoctenus delalandii (Valenciennes 1836)    in honor of the late Pierre Antoine Delalande (1787-1823), French naturalist and explorer, who collected type off the coast of Brazi

Malacoctenus ebisui Springer 1959    named for Ebisu, patron god of Japanese fishermen (although this species occurs in the eastern Pacific of Central America)

Malacoctenus erdmani Smith 1957    in honor of fishery biologist Donald S. Erdman, “who in recent years has added much to our knowledge of the fishes of Puerto Rico” (type locality); he also contributed advice and encouragement throughout the course of Smith’s study and provided Puerto Rican blennies for study                         

Malacoctenus gigas Springer 1959    large, at 78 mm SL, the largest species in the genus

Malacoctenus gilli (Steindachner 1867)    patronym not identified but almost certainly in honor of Smithsonian zoologist Theodore Gill (1837-1914), who proposed the genus Malacoctenus in 1860

Malacoctenus hubbsi Springer 1959    in honor of ichthyologist Clark L. Hubbs (1912-2008), University of Texas at Austin, for his contributions to the study of clinid systematics

Malacoctenus macropus (Poey 1868)    macro-, long; pous, foot, referring to ventral fins as long as the depth of the trunk

Malacoctenus margaritae (Fowler 1944)    of margarita (pearl), referring to Perlas Islands, Panama, type locality

Malacoctenus mexicanus Springer 1959    Mexican, known only from the eastern Pacific coast of México

Malacoctenus polyporosus Springer 1959    poly, many; porosus, pored, proposed as a subspecies of M. hubbsi with a higher average number of symphysial pores

Malacoctenus sudensis Springer 1959    ensis, suffix denoting place: sud, south, proposed as a southern subspecies of M. zonifer

Malacoctenus tetranemus (Cope 1877)    tetra, four; nema, thread, referring to long tentacle above posterior orbit “deeply split into four subequal portions” 

Malacoctenus triangulatus Springer 1959    triangular, named for triangle-like saddles on body

Malacoctenus versicolor (Poey 1876)    variegated, referring to head, sides and fins varied with vertical brown bands and large brown spots

Malacoctenus zacae Springer 1959    named for the 1946 Zaca Expedition, named for Zaca, a schooner-rigged yacht then owned by swashbuckling movie star Errol Flynn (whose father was a marine biologist), during which type was collected

Malacoctenus zaluari Carvalho-Filho, Gasparini & Sazima 2020    in honor of “ichthyologist friend” Ricardo Zaluar Passos Guimarães, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, who “decisively” contributed to studies and descriptions of several reef fishes from the Brazilian coast

Malacoctenus zonifer (Jordan & Gilbert 1882)    zonus, band; fero, to bear, referring to five distinct irregular dark-brown bars on sides, extending from base of dorsal fin to level of lower margin of pectoral fin, their lower edges connected by a vague undulating longitudinal band

Malacoctenus zonogaster Heller & Snodgrass 1903    zonus, band; gaster, belly, referring to “barred and spotted” ventral region, “the bars about as wide as the interspaces”

Nemaclinus Böhlke & Springer 1975    nema, thread, referring to elongated individual rays in the paired fins; Clinus, ancient Greek name for blennies, used as a “combining form in coining many generic names for blennioid fishes”

Nemaclinus atelestos Böhlke & Springer 1975    unfinished or imperfect, referring to incomplete state of lateral line (well developed anteriorly only)

Paraclinus Mocquard 1888    para-, near, presumed to be closely related to Clinus (Clinidae) but differentiated by long dorsal fin composed entirely of spines and incomplete lateral line

Paraclinus altivelis (Lockington 1881)    altus, high; velum, sail, referring to elevated first two rays of dorsal fin, the first nearly equal in height to the distance of its base from tip of upper jaw

Paraclinus arcanus Guimarães & Bacellar 2002    secretive, referring to its habit of hiding underneath rocks

Paraclinus asper (Jenkins & Evermann 1889)    rough, allusion not explained nor evident, perhaps referring to 25 “rather stout, sharp spines” of second dorsal fin

Paraclinus barbatus Springer 1955    bearded, referring to lips of lower jaw produced anteroventrally into a fleshy barbe

Paraclinus beebei Hubbs 1952    in honor of naturalist and explorer William Beebe (1877-1962), New York Zoological Society, who collected type [author is Clark Hubbs, son of Carl]

Paraclinus cingulatus (Evermann & Marsh 1899)    banded, referring to “conspicuous” and “heavy” dark-brown vertical bars on body, each about four rows of scales wide, extending to vertical fins

Paraclinus ditrichus Rosenblatt & Parr 1969    di-, two; trichos, hair, referring to two soft rays of pelvic fin

Paraclinus fasciatus (Steindachner 1876)    banded, referring to 7-8 “rather sharply demarcated crooked transverse bands” (translation) on sides

Paraclinus fehlmanni Springer & Trist 1969    in honor of ichthyologist-herpetologist Herman Adair Fehlmann (1917-2005), Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center, for “outstanding contributions to ichthyology as evidenced by a long and productive history of ichthyological collecting,” including type of this blenny

Paraclinus grandicomis (Rosén 1911)    museum name coined by Lütken, etymology not explained; probably grandis, large and cornis (misspelled comis), horn, referring to its “extremely large ocular tentacle”

Paraclinus infrons Böhlke 1960    in-, without; frons, forehead, allusion not explained, presumably referring to its lack of nuchal cirri

Paraclinus integripinnis (Smith 1880)    integer, entire; pinnis, fin, referring to its continuous dorsal fin, compared to divided dorsal fin of P. monophthalmus [author is Rosa Smith Eigenmann]

Paraclinus magdalenae Rosenblatt & Parr 1969    of Bahía Magdalena, Baja California México, prominent geographic feature near type locality

Paraclinus marmoratus (Steindachner 1876)    marbled, referring to gray and brown mottling on head and body

Paraclinus mexicanus (Gilbert 1904)    Mexican, referring to type locality, La Paz, México, Baja California, Gulf of California (occurs in eastern Pacific from México to Ecuador)

Paraclinus monophthalmus (Günther 1861)    mono-, one; ophthalmus, eye, referring to black eyespot, edged with white, on 19th and 20th spines of posterior dorsal fin

Paraclinus naeorhegmis Böhlke 1960    naetes, an inhabitant; rhegma, break or fracture, allusion not explained, presumably referring to its occurrence at well-washed, eroded limestone localities (some specimens were taken at bottom of large hole)

Paraclinus nigripinnis (Steindachner 1867)    nigri-, black; pinnis, fin, referring to “watery black” (translation) dorsal and anal fins (i.e., color of a drop of black ink dropped in clear water) and/or deep-black ocellus between 22nd and 24th dorsal-fin spines

Paraclinus rubicundus (Starks 1913)     reddish, referring to uniformly bright-red color of head and body, growing only very slightly below (dorsal fin is alternately red and colorless)

Paraclinus sini Hubbs 1952    sinus, bay or gulf, referring to large bays, its typical habitat [author is Clark Hubbs, son of Carl]

Paraclinus spectator Guimarães & Bacellar 2002    observer, referring to how this blenny, when closely approached underwater, usually relies on its camouflaged coloration and observes the diver and its surroundings

Paraclinus stephensi Rosenblatt & Parr 1969    in honor of environmental biologist John S. Stephens, Jr. (b. 1932), for his contributions to the study of blennioid fishes 

Paraclinus tanygnathus Rosenblatt & Parr 1969    tanyo-, to stretch out; gnathus, jaw, referring to upper jaw in adult males extending to behind vertical from rear margin of orbit

Paraclinus walkeri Hubbs 1952    in honor of fisheries biologist Boyd W. Walker (1917-2001), University of California, Los Angeles, who helped collect specimens and placed them at Hubbs’ disposal [author is Clark Hubbs, son of Carl]

Starksia Jordan & Evermann 1896    ia, belonging to: ichthyologist Edwin Chapin Starks (1867-1932), Stanford University, in recognition of his work on the fishes of the Pacific Coast of North America

Starksia atlantica Longley 1934    ica, belonging to: the “first known species of its genus from the Atlantic,” Longley said (other earlier-described congeners, e.g., S. brasiliensis, occur in the Atlantic but were placed in different genera at the time)

Starksia brasiliensis (Gilbert 1900)    ensis, suffix denoting place: reef near Maceio, Brazil, type locality

Starksia cremnobates (Gilbert 1890)    kremnos, cliff; bates, a frequenter, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its occurrence in deeper waters of the Gulf of California (collected at 60 m, not 130 m as reported)

Starksia culebrae (Evermann & Marsh 1899)    of Culebra (reefs outside harbor), Puerto Rico, type locality

Starksia elongata Gilbert 1971    referring to its “unusually slender and elongate body” compared to congeners known at the time

Starksia fasciata (Longley 1934)    banded, referring to seven brown bars on body

Starksia fulva Rosenblatt & Taylor 1971    tawny, referring to “distinctive background color of the holotype”

Starksia galapagensis Rosenblatt & Taylor 1971    ensis, suffix denoting place: Galápagos Islands, where it is endemic

Starksia grammilaga Rosenblatt & Taylor 1971    gramme, line; lagon, flank, referring to distinctive horizontal lines on posterior half of body

Starksia greenfieldi Baldwin & Castillo 2011    in honor of ichthyologist David W. Greenfield (b. 1940), for his work on blennioid fishes, particularly the Starksia ocellata complex

Starksia guadalupae Rosenblatt & Taylor 1971    of Isla Guadalupe, Baja California, México, type locality

Starksia guttata (Fowler 1931)    spotted, referring to “small, black, strongly contrasted, irregularly scattered rather large black spots” on posterior trunk and entire tail

Starksia hassi Klausewitz 1958    in honor of biologist, underwater cinematographer, and scuba-diving pioneer Hans Hass (1919-2013), leader of expedition during which type was collected

Starksia hoesei Rosenblatt & Taylor 1971    in honor of friend and ichthyologist Douglass F. Hoese (b. 1942), Australian Museum (Sydney)

Starksia langi Baldwin & Castillo 2011    in honor of Michael A. Lang, Director of the Smithsonian Marine Science Network (MSN) and Smithsonian Science Diving Program, for the support MSN has provided for the authors’ Caribbean fish diversity studies and for his contributions to “science diving”

Starksia lepicoelia Böhlke & Springer 1961    lepis, scale; coelio-, belly, referring to its “fully and densely scaled” belly

Starksia lepidogaster Rosenblatt & Taylor 1971    lepidos, scale; gaster, belly, referring to entirely scaled belly, with 10-14 rows between pelvic-fin base and vent

Starksia leucovitta Williams & Mounts 2003    leucos, white; vitta, ribbon, referring to ribbon-like white bars along dorsum

Starksia melasma Williams & Mounts 2003    Greek for black spot, referring to black spot in dorsal fin of males

Starksia multilepis Williams & Mounts 2003    multi-, many; lepis, scale, referring to high number (17) of arched lateral-line scales

Starksia nanodes Böhlke & Springer 1961    Greek for dwarfish, up to 17.0 mm SL

Starksia occidentalis Greenfield 1979    western, having the westernmost distribution of any species in the S. ocellata complex

Starksia ocellata (Steindachner 1876)    having little eyes, referring to several blue-sky spots (orange in the photos we have seen) with dark borders on cheek and opercle

Starksia posthon Rosenblatt & Taylor 1971    Greek for “one with a large phallus,” referring to long intromittent organ of males

Starksia rava Williams & Mounts 2003    tawny or grayish yellow, referring to tawny yellow color of body in preservative

Starksia robertsoni Baldwin, Victor & Castillo 2011    in honor of D. Ross Robertson (b. 1946), Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, for contributions to understanding of diversity of shorefishes of the New World and his “generous” facilitation of collecting in Panama (type locality)

Starksia sangreyae Castillo & Baldwin 2011    in honor of Mary Sangrey for her many years of work coordinating the intern program at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History; she brought Castillo’s intern application to Baldwin’s attention and took the first steps toward procuring funding for Castillo’s internship

Starksia sella Williams & Mounts 2003    saddle, referring to dark bars saddling its dorsal profile

Starksia sluiteri (Metzelaar 1919)    in honor of tunicate specialist Carel Philip Sluiter (1854-1933)

Starksia smithvanizi Williams & Mounts 2003     in honor of ichthyologist William F. Smith-Vaniz (b. 1941), for many contributions to our knowledge of the taxonomy of marine shorefishes and for collecting and photographing representatives of this species at St. Croix (U.S. Virgin Islands)

Starksia spinipenis (Al-Uthman 1960)    spinis, spine; penis, copulatory organ, referring to first anal-fin spine of males, long and free from rest of fin, modified as a sexual organ (a characteristic of the genus)

Starksia splendens Victor 2018    shining, brilliant, or splendid, referring to “impressive appearance” of mature males

Starksia springeri Castillo & Baldwin 2011    in honor of Victor G. Springer (b. 1928), Senior Scientist Emeritus, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, for his contributions to the systematics of blennioid fishes, including Starksia, and for advice and friendship bestowed upon the second author

Starksia starcki Gilbert 1971    in honor of Walter A. Starck II (b. 1939), for his many contributions to marine biology, especially ichthyology

Starksia variabilis Greenfield 1979    variable, referring to “unusual” variation of coloration on side of head when compared to other members of the S. ocellata complex

Starksia weigti Baldwin & Castillo 2011    in honor of Lee A. Weigt (b. 1960), Head of the Smithsonian’s Laboratories of Analytical Biology, for his contributions to the DNA barcoding of fishes and his contributions to fish-collecting efforts in Belize (type locality), Curaçao, Florida, Tobago, and Turks & Caicos Islands

Starksia williamsi Baldwin & Castillo 2011    in honor of Jeffrey T. Williams, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, for his work on blennioid fishes, including Starksia; his field-collecting efforts at Saba Bank, Tobago, and Turks and Caicos, resulted in numerous specimens utilized in the authors’ study

Starksia y-lineata Gilbert 1965    lineata, lined, referring to y-shaped markings on sides          

Stathmonotus Bean 1885    stathme, a carpenter’s rule; notus, back, presumably referring to long, low dorsal fin of S. hemphillii, consisting entirely of stiff, sharp spines

Subgenus Stathmonotus

Stathmonotus hemphillii Bean 1885    in honor of malacologist Henry Hemphill (1830-1914), Key West, Florida (USA), who collected type

Subgenus Auchenistius Evermann & Marsh 1899    auchen, nape; istios, sail, presumably referring to tall cirri on nape of S. stahli

Stathmonotus gymnodermis Springer 1955    gymnos, bare or naked; dermis, skin, referring to its lack of scales

Stathmonotus stahli (Evermann & Marsh 1899)    in honor of Agustín Stahl (1842-1917), physician-biologist in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, who, “under many difficulties put in his way by Spanish authorities, made considerable collections of natural-history objects of Puerto Rico”

Stathmonotus tekla Nichols 1910    named for the yacht Tekla, from which type was collected; its owner, Allesandro Fabbri, conducted “extensive” fish collecting efforts in Florida on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History, where Nichols worked

Subgenus Parastathmonotus Chabanaud 1942    para-, near, proposed as a new genus similar to Stathmonotus but distinguished by lack of vomerine teeth                           

Stathmonotus culebrai Seale 1940    of Culebra, Costa Rica, type locality

Stathmonotus lugubris Böhlke 1953    doleful or mournful, allusion not explained nor evident, but here’s a guess: referring to sad countenance of short, bluntly pointed head with large, oblique mouth

Stathmonotus sinuscalifornici (Chabanaud 1942)    of the Gulf of California, where type locality (San Gabriel Bay, Espiritu Santo Island) is situated

Xenomedea Rosenblatt & Taylor 1971    xenos, strange; medos, genital, referring to adult (35 mm) males with complex fleshy folds around genital papilla (and along anterior part of anal-fin base)

Xenomedea rhodopyga Rosenblatt & Taylor 1971    rhodo-, rosy; pygus, rump, referring to red area near anus (pale in preservative)


Family CHAENOPSIDAE Pikeblennies or Tubeblennies
13 genera · 94 species/subspecies

Acanthemblemaria Metzelaar 1919    acanthus, spine, referring to short, strong spines surrounding eye of A. spinosa; Emblemaria, related and/or similar to that genus                             

Acanthemblemaria aceroi Hastings, Eytan & Summers 2020    in honor of Arturo Acero Pizarro (b. 1954), Universidad Nacional de Colombia, who first documented meristic differences between populations of “A. rivasi” from Central and South America, for his contributions to ichthyology, including the systematics of chaenopsid blennies

Acanthemblemaria aspera (Longley 1927)    aspera, rough, presumably referring to “strongly serrate” orbital ridge with a pair of “strong sharp” post-ocular spines                  

Acanthemblemaria atrata Hastings & Robertson 1999    dressed in black, referring to unique dark color morph

Acanthemblemaria balanorum Brock 1940    orum, belonging to: Balanus, acorn barnacle, referring to this blenny’s occurrence inside empty barnacle shells

Acanthemblemaria betinensis Smith-Vaniz & Palacio 1974    ensis, suffix denoting place: Punta Betín, Colombia, in honor of Instituto Colombo-Aleman de Investigaciones “Punta de Betin” at Santa Maria, for its contributions to marine research in Colombia

Acanthemblemaria castroi Stephens & Hobson 1966    in honor of Miguel Castro, naturalist at the Charles Darwin Laboratory, Academy Bay, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Archipelago (where this blenny is endemic)

Acanthemblemaria chaplini Böhlke 1957    in honor of ichthyologist Charles C. G. Chaplin (1906-1991), whose support made possible the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia’s shorefish program in the Bahamas, during which type was collected

Acanthemblemaria crockeri Beebe & Tee-Van 1938    patronym not identified but probably in honor of San Francisco philanthropist and self-proclaimed explorer Charles Templeton Crocker (1884-1948), who used his yacht Zaca as a research vessel

Acanthemblemaria exilispinus Stephens 1963    exilis, meager or poor; spinus, spine, referring to its weakly developed cranial spines, compared to highly developed spines in A. crockeri

Acanthemblemaria greenfieldi Smith-Vaniz & Palacio 1974    in honor of ichthyologist David W. Greenfield (b. 1940), then of Northern Illinois University, who independently recognized the undescribed status of this blenny and “generously” made his material available to the authors

Acanthemblemaria hancocki Myers & Reid 1936    in honor of Capt. George Allan Hancock (1875-1965), oil magnate and philanthropist, who led expedition that collected type

Acanthemblemaria harpeza Williams 2002    Greek for thorn-hedge, referring to heavily branched nasal and orbital cirri that resemble bushes amidst thorn-like spines on head  

Acanthemblemaria hastingsi Lin & Galland 2010    in honor of marine biologist Philip A. Hastings (b. 1951), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who has contributed to our knowledge of chaenopsid blennies for more than 25 years

Acanthemblemaria johnsoni Almany & Baldwin 1996    in honor of G. David Johnson (b. 1945), Curator, Division of Fishes, Smithsonian Institution, who helped collect type, for his contributions to the systematics of a broad array of teleostean taxa (including Acanthemblemaria), and his “inspirational” knowledge of teleostean anatomy and phylogeny

Acanthemblemaria macrospilus Brock 1940    macro-, large; spilos, spot, proposed as a subspecies of A. hancocki with fewer but larger spots on sides

Acanthemblemaria mangognatha Hastings & Robertson 1999    mango, a tropical fruit with rich orange flesh; ganthos, jaw, referring to unique coloration of lower jaw

Acanthemblemaria maria Böhlke 1961    latinization of Mary, in honor of Mary George, Böhlke’s secretary at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for the past five years and “now parent and housewife, in appreciation of her assistance in all the activities of the department [of ichthyology] during that period” (presumably a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”; vernacular name is Secretary Blenny)

Acanthemblemaria medusa Smith-Vaniz & Palacio 1974    Medusa, in Greek mythology a winged human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair, referring to extreme development of fleshy papillae

Acanthemblemaria paula Johnson & Brothers 1989    little, referring to its diminutive size, the smallest member of the family, up to 18.4 mm SL; name also honor Paula Keener, South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, who helped collect paratypes

Acanthemblemaria rivasi Stephens 1970    patronym not identified, probably in honor of Luis René Rivas y Díaz (1916-1986), Curator of Fishes, University of Miami, whom Stephens thanked for the loan of specimens

Acanthemblemaria spinosa Metzelaar 1919    spiny, referring to short, strong spines surrounding eye

Acanthemblemaria stephensi Rosenblatt & McCosker 1988    in honor of environmental biologist John S. Stephens, Jr. (b. 1932), “the major contributor to present knowledge of systematics of the Chaenopsidae”

Chaenopsis Gill 1865    chaeno-, yawn or gape; opsis, face or appearance, referring to large mouth of C. ocellata, with the “cleft nearly horizontal, linear, continued behind the eyes” (name apparently coined by Poey but made available by Gill)

Chaenopsis alepidota alepidota (Gilbert 1890)    a-, not; lepidotus, scaly, referring to its “wholly naked” body

Chaenopsis alepidota californiensis Böhlke 1957    ensis, suffix denoting place: Santa Catalina Island, California (USA), type locality

Chaenopsis celeste Tavera 2021    in honor of the author’s daughter, Celeste, his “main source of inspiration” [presumably a noun in apposition, without the matronymic “ae”]

Chaenopsis coheni Böhlke 1957    in honor of ichthyologist Daniel M. Cohen (1930-2017), then of Stanford University, Böhlke’s “co-worker” on expedition that collected type

Chaenopsis deltarrhis Böhlke 1957    delta, fourth letter of Greek alphabet (∆); rhis, nose, referring to triangular shape of snout when viewed from above

Chaenopsis limbaughi Robins & Randall 1965    in honor of the late Conrad Limbaugh (1925-1960), zoologist, diver and underwater photographer, who helped the senior author’s earlier paper by providing detailed field observations on C. alepidota; he also collected type of that species [Limbaugh died after losing his way while diving in the labyrinth of an underground river in France]

Chaenopsis megalops Smith-Vaniz 2000    mega-, large; ops, eye, referring to its relatively large eyes

Chaenopsis ocellata Poey 1865    having eye-like spots, referring to orange ocellated spot at anterior angle of dorsal fin

Chaenopsis resh Robins & Randall 1965    from the Hebrew letter resh (ר), the form of which characterizes this species’ diagnostic postocular mark

Chaenopsis roseola Hastings & Shipp 1981    rosy colored, referring to rust- or pink-colored flecks (in living adults) reminiscent of roseola or measles

Chaenopsis schmitti Böhlke 1957    in honor of carcinologist Waldo L. Schmitt (1887-1977), Curator of the Division of Marine Invertebrates, U.S. National Museum, who collected both type specimens

Chaenopsis stephensi Robins & Randall 1965    in honor of environmental biologist John S. Stephens, Jr. (b. 1932), for his work on blennioid fishes

Cirriemblemaria Hastings 1997    cirrus, curl or tendril, referring to double row of cirri extending across nape; Emblemaria, a related genus

Cirriemblemaria lucasana (Stephens 1963)    ana, belonging to: San Lucas Canyon, southern tip of Baja California Peninsula, México, type locality

Coralliozetus Evermann & Marsh 1899    corallium, coral; zetus, to seek, referring to reef habitat of C. cardonae

Coralliozetus angelicus (Böhlke & Mead 1957)    angelic, heavenly or divine, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to “well-marked and distinctive” coloration of adult males, with a “striking” white face on a “very dark” head

Coralliozetus boehlkei Stephens 1963    in honor of ichthyologist James E. Böhlke (1930-1982), Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, who loaned specimens and was in “continual communication” with Stephens in regard to his (Böhlke’s) work on Atlantic species

Coralliozetus cardonae Evermann & Marsh 1899    of Cardona, off Playa de Ponce, Puerto Rico, type locality (also occurs off Bahamas, in Caribbean Sea, and off Atlantic coast of Venezuela)

Coralliozetus clausus Hastings 2021    Latin for “enclosed” or “having been shut off,” referring to its restricted distribution (known only from Isla del Coco, Costa Rica), and to the “isolation imposed on the author by the Covid-19 pandemic, providing an opportunity to complete the description of this species whose distinctiveness had been known for some time” (proposed common name is Pandemic Blenny)

Coralliozetus micropes (Beebe & Tee-Van 1938)    micro-, small; pes, foot, referring to small ventral fins compared to the “somewhat similar” Emblemaria oculocirris (=hypacanthus), its presumed congener at the time

Coralliozetus rosenblatti Stephens 1963    in honor of ichthyologist Richard H. Rosenblatt (1930-2014), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who loaned specimens

Coralliozetus springeri Stephens & Johnson 1966    in honor of ichthyologist Victor G. Springer (b. 1928), U.S. National Museum, who alerted the authors of material (including type specimen) from the Argosy Expedition to Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, and made valuable suggestions concerning their paper

Ekemblemaria Stephens 1963    eka, one, presumably referring to a single pinnately multifid cirrus above each eye; Emblemaria, a related genus

Ekemblemaria lira Hastings 1992    ridge or furrow thrown up by a plow, referring to strong ridge or flange of bone on frontals

Ekemblemaria myersi Stephens 1963    in honor of Stanford University ichthyologist George S. Myers (1905-1985), who provided specimens

Ekemblemaria nigra (Meek & Hildebrand 1928)    black, presumably referring to uniform dark-brown coloration in life and/or black fins (except for pectoral and posterior parts of dorsal and anal fins, which are reddish)

Emblemaria Jordan & Gilbert 1883    -aria, adjectival suffix: emblema, a banner, presumably referring to single high dorsal fin of E. nivipes, beginning on nape and extending to (but not confluent with) caudal fin

Emblemaria atlantica Jordan & Evermann 1898    ica, belonging to: presumably referring to distribution in the Western Atlantic, but described from the Gulf of Mexico (Pensacola, Florida)

Emblemaria australis Ramos, Rocha & Rocha 2003    southern, only member of genus known to occur in the South Atlantic

Emblemaria biocellata Stephens 1970    bi-, two; ocellata, having little eyes, referring to two ocellus-like markings on dorsal fin of female

Emblemaria caldwelli Stephens 1970    in honor of David K. Caldwell (1928-1990), Director of Marineland Research Laboratory, St. Augustine, Florida (USA), whom Stephens thanked for the loan of specimens

Emblemaria caycedoi Acero P. 1984    in honor of the late Ivan Enrique Caycedo Lara (d. 1978), “the best of the Colombian young marine biologists, killed through ignorance” (we do not know the details, but he apparently died while SCUBA diving for his research)

Emblemaria culmenis Stephens 1970    is, genitive singular of: culmen, ridge to roof, referring to postorbital ridges on roof of skull

Emblemaria diphyodontis Stephens & Cervigón 1970    diphy, double; odontus, tooth, referring to double row of palatine teeth

Emblemaria hudsoni Evermann & Radcliffe 1917    in honor of Capt. Charles Bradford Hudson (1865-1939), District of Columbia National Guard, “artist and author, who has succeeded better than any other in depicting on canvas the life colors of American fishes”

Emblemaria hyltoni Johnson & Greenfield 1976    in honor of Nick Hylton, who donated his services as captain and crew of the yacht Miss Sabrina during the Miskito Coast Expedition (1975) to Honduras and Nicaragua, aided in field work, and “without whose assistance the expedition would not have been successful”; he also “saved the expedition at Brus Lagoon, [and] will never forget Trujillo,” events not explained by the authors

Emblemaria hypacanthus (Jenkins & Evermann 1889)    hypo-, below (i.e., imperfect); acanthus, spine, presumably referring to gradual change from spines to soft rays on posterior second dorsal fin, with those in the middle not distinguishable as either spines or soft rays, a “character, if we mistake not, [that] is entirely unique”

Emblemaria nivipes Jordan & Gilbert 1883    nivis, snow; pes, foot, referring to “bright white” ventral fins (but their basal portion is dusky)

Emblemaria pandionis Evermann & Marsh 1900    is, genitive singular of: referring to the fish-hawk or osprey, Pandion haliaetus carolinensis, named for the U.S. Fish Commission steamer Fish Hawk, from which type was collected

Emblemaria piratica Ginsburg 1942    ica, belonging to: pirata, pirate, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to black, sail-like dorsal fin

Emblemaria piratula Ginsburg & Reid 1942    diminutive of pirata, pirate, referring to well-marked white spot at base of anteriorly black dorsal fin, which “imaginatively suggests the pirate’s flag”

Emblemaria tortugae Hildebrand 1946    of Tortuga Bay, Peru, type locality

Emblemaria vitta Williams 2002    band, referring to ribbon-like shape of orbital cirri

Emblemaria walkeri Stephens 1963    in honor of fisheries biologist Boyd W. Walker (1917-2001), University of California, Los Angeles, who loaned specimens and guided, counseled and supervised Stephens’ graduate studies

Emblemariopsis Longley 1927    opsis, appearance, referring to similarity to Emblemaria

Emblemariopsis bahamensis Stephens 1961    ensis, suffix denoting place: Bahamas, type locality

Emblemariopsis bottomei Stephens 1961    in honor of Peter Bottome (no other information provided), who collected type; possibly referring to Peter Bottome Deery (1937-2016), a Venezuelan businessman

Emblemariopsis carib Victor 2010    named for the Carib native people of the Antilles, reflecting its occurrence in the Greater Antilles

Emblemariopsis dianae Tyler & Hastings 2004    in honor of Diane M. Tyler (wife of senior author), Smithsonian Institution Press, for her studies of the behavioral ecology of chaenopsids at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize; she is co-collector of most of the type specimens of this species, and her “dedicated collecting efforts over the years in and around Carrie Bow Cay have procured many important materials”

Emblemariopsis diaphana Longley 1927    transparent, described as “largely translucent” in life (relatively opaque in alcohol)

Emblemariopsis falcon Victor & Rodríguez 2020    named for state of Falcon in western Venezuela, location at which this species was first recognized in 2008

Emblemariopsis lancea Victor 2020    Latin for lance or spear, referring to similarity of red-over-white bands on dorsal fin to red-over-white spear banner carried by Lancer light-cavalry regiments in European (and Ottoman) armies over the centuries, and up to the present in the British and Indian Army; “It may not be coincidental that red and white contrasting bands are visible in low light conditions both on the battlefield and in sometimes murky reef waters in the southern Caribbean Sea, especially a region under the influence of the Orinoco outflow plume”

Emblemariopsis leptocirris Stephens 1970    leptos, fine or thin; cirrus, curl or tendril, referring to “weakly developed” oribtal cirrus

Emblemariopsis occidentalis Stephens 1970    western, allusion not explained; since this species is not the westernmost member of the genus known at the time, name may refer to the Western Atlantic (where the genus is endemic), or to Occidental College, Los Angeles, California (USA), where Stephens was professor from 1959-2003

Emblemariopsis pricei Greenfield 1975    in honor of George C. Price (1919-2011), Premier of the “emerging” Central American nation of Belize (type locality); the Belize government granted Greenfield permission to collect in its waters

Emblemariopsis randalli Cervigón 1965    in honor of ichthyologist John E. Randall (1924-2020), Bishop Museum (Honolulu), who collected type specimens and gave them to Cervigón to describe

Emblemariopsis ruetzleri Tyler & Tyler 1997    in honor of Klaus Ruetzler (b. 1936), Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the National Museum of Natural History, “who has so effectively directed the Smithsonian’s Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem (CCRE) Program and its marine laboratory at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize [type locality], since its inception in 1972; he has given generously of his time and talents for all those years in providing research opportunities for many Smithsonian scientists and their colleagues throughout the world”

Emblemariopsis signifer (Ginsburg 1942)    signum, mark; fero, to bear (i.e., color sergeant or standard bearer), presumably referring to filamentous first dorsal-fin spine

Emblemariopsis tayrona (Acero P. 1987)    named for the Tayrona Indians, who live in the Santa Marta region of Colombia, type locality

Hemiemblemaria Longley & Hildebrand 1940    hemi-, partial, referring to compressed head and body, as in Emblemaria

Hemiemblemaria simula Longley & Hildebrand 1940    resembling, referring to its resemblance to the sympatric Thalassoma bifasciatum (Labridae); the resemblance is “so great that it would be extremely easy to mistake the blenny for a labrid”

Lucayablennius Böhlke 1958    Lucaya, named for the Lucayan Archipelago and the Lucayans, first inhabitants of the Bahamas, where the genus is endemic; blennius, blenny, derived from blennos, mucus, referring to scaleless body of blenniids (replacement name for Lucaya Böhlke 1957, preoocupied in Crustacea)

Lucayablennius zingaro (Böhlke 1957)    Italian for gypsy, referring to Gypsy, name of dive boat owned by underwater film producer Stan Waterman (b. 1923), from which type was collected

Mccoskerichthys Rosenblatt & Stephens 1978    in honor of John E. McCosker (b. 1945), California Academy of Sciences, who discovered this species and helped collect all specimens known at the time; ichthys, fish

Mccoskerichthys sandae Rosenblatt & Stephens 1978    in honor of anthropologist Sandra McCosker, John E. McCosker’s wife at the time, who participated in the first collection of this species in 1971

Neoclinus Girard 1858    neo-, new, “not without affinities with Clinus [Clinidae], but the latter contains yet too great a diversity of species to make it a natural genus”         

Neoclinus blanchardi Girard 1858    in honor of Dr. S. B. Blanchard, San Diego, California (USA), who collected this blenny and passed it on to Girard

Neoclinus bryope (Jordan & Snyder 1902)    byrum, moss; ops, face, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to “tufted filaments” (i.e., branched tentacles) above eye

Neoclinus chihiroe Fukao 1987    in honor of Chihiro, wife of Toshio Okazaki (see N. okazakii); chihiro also means “a thousand fathoms,” referring to how this blenny, while living in the littoral zone, occurs in deeper water than its closest congeners (N. bryope and N. okazakii)

Neoclinus lacunicola Fukao 1980    lacuna, hole; incola, inhabitant, referring to its habitat of small holes in rocky reef

Neoclinus monogrammus Murase, Aizawa & Sunobe 2010    monos, one; gramme, line, referring to single row of lateral-line pores, which look like a single line

Neoclinus nudiceps Murase, Aizawa & Sunobe 2010    nudus, bare or naked; ceps, head, referring to apparent (but not actual) lack of cirri on head (they’re translucent and whitish)

Neoclinus nudus Stephens & Springer 1971    bare or naked, referring to its lack of scales

Neoclinus okazakii Fukao 1987    in honor of Toshio Okazaki, Yamazaki University of Animal Health Technology, who carried out the electrophoresis that led to the recognition of this species (see also N. chihiroe)

Neoclinus stephensae Hubbs 1953    in honor of Kate Stephens (ca. 1853-1954), Curator of Mollusks and Marine Invertebrates, San Diego Natural History Museum, “now over 100 years old, who first collected the fish”

Neoclinus toshimaensis Fukao 1980    ensis, suffix denoting place: Toshima island, mouth of Tanabe Bay, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, type locality

Neoclinus uninotatus Hubbs 1953    uni-, one; notatus, marked, referring to single ocellus on dorsal fin

Protemblemaria Stephens 1963    protos, first, referring to how this genus “probably more nearly approaches the ancestral type of the Chaenopsidae than any other existing genus”; Emblemaria, a related genus

Protemblemaria bicirrus (Hildebrand 1946)    bi-, two; cirrus, curl or tendril, referring to two “separate and distinct fringed tentacles on upper margin of eye”

Protemblemaria perla Hastings 2001    an arbitrary combination of letters referring to both Islas Perlas, Panama (type locality) and pearly bars on body

Protemblemaria punctata Cervigón 1966    spotted, referring to row of large, dark-brown blotches on upper back and/or small orange spots on posterior body

Tanyemblemaria Hastings 1992    tany, long, referring to its elongate body; Emblemaria, a related genus

Tanyemblemaria alleni Hastings 1992    in honor of Gerald R. Allen (b. 1942), Western Australia Museum (Perth), who collected type, for his contributions to the study of fishes