Scartella cristata facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Scartella cristata |
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Scartella cristata, also known by the vernacular names molly miller or molly miller blenny, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Blenniidae, the combtooth blennies. This species is found in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and northwest Pacific Oceans. Its colour is a mottled tan, white, and black covering the body and fins. The head of this fish is covered with short hair-like appendages and has two very large eyes. This species reaches 12 cm (4.7 in) in total length.
Reproduction
This blenny is oviparous; its eggs are demersal and adhesive.
Habitat
The molly miller is a marine tropical fish that lives in rocks or coral reefs 0–10 m below the surface. Coral reefs are perfect places for the fish to hunt and feed on the small crustaceans and algae that make up its omnivorous diet, and give them shelter and places to hide, as well.
Taxonomy and phylogeny
The molly miller was first formally described as Blennius cristatus by Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae with its type locality given as Ascension Island.
A 2020 study which analysed the mitochondrial data of the genus Scartella for the first time showed that Scartella cristata is a lineage consisting of 5 clades: 2 in Caribbean waters, 1 in the East Atlantic/Mediterranean, and 2 in Brazil. The Brazilian clades are sympatric from Rio de Janeiro to Rio Grande do Sul states (southern Brazil), with one clade being unique to Brazil and the other closely related to the eastern Atlantic lineage.
Distribution
It lives in the western Atlantic from Bermuda, Florida, and northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil, and in the eastern Atlantic from Mauritania and the Canary Islands to Namibia. The fish can be found in the southern Mediterranean, including near Milan, Sicily, and the Peloponnese (Greece). Records from the western Pacific are regarded as doubtful and may refer to the maned blenny (Scartella emarginata).
