Tessellated blenny facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tessellated blenny |
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The tessellated blenny (scientific name: Hypsoblennius invemar) is a small fish. It belongs to a group called combtooth blennies. You can find it in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean.
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What Does the Tessellated Blenny Look Like?
This blenny is quite small. It grows up to about 5.8 centimeters long. That's less than 2.5 inches! Its head and the front part of its body are bright blue. They have tiny, brick-red spots. Each spot has a black edge. On its head, these spots can join together. This makes a pattern that looks like a net. There is also a black spot right behind its eye.
The fin on its back, called the dorsal fin, has 12 stiff spines. It also has 12 soft rays. The fin on its belly, the anal fin, has 2 spines and 15 soft rays. Sometimes, people might confuse it with another fish. This is Springer's blenny (Scartella springeri). But Springer's blenny does not have black edges around its orange spots.
Where Do Tessellated Blennies Live?
You can find the tessellated blenny in shallow ocean waters. It lives off the coasts of Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. It also lives near the Lesser Antilles islands. Since around 1979, it has also been seen. It appeared off the coasts of Texas, Alabama, and Florida in the United States.
This fish usually stays in water less than 4.5 meters deep. That's about 15 feet. But sometimes, it can be found as deep as 18 meters. That's about 60 feet. It has become very common around the legs of oil platforms. These are structures used to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
Scientists think these blennies arrived there in a special way. They might have traveled inside barnacle shells. These barnacles could have been stuck to the legs of oil rigs. The rigs were moved from South America to the Gulf of Mexico. Or, they could have been on the bottoms of ships.
Tessellated Blenny Life and Reproduction
The tessellated blenny likes to live inside empty shells. It often chooses the large shell of a barnacle. This barnacle is called Megabalanus tintinnabulum.
These fish have separate male and female individuals. This is called being dioecious. A male and female blenny will form a pair. They stay together to have babies. The eggs are fertilized outside the female's body. The male blenny then takes care of the eggs. He keeps them safe inside the barnacle shell.
The tessellated blenny also has a special connection. It likes to live where a certain type of hydroid is common. This hydroid is called Thyroscyphus marginatus. Hydroids are tiny animals that look a bit like plants.
What Does the Name Mean?
The scientific name of this fish is Hypsoblennius invemar. The second part, "invemar," is a short form of a longer name. It stands for the Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas de Punta de Betin. This is a marine research institute. It is located in Santa Marta, Colombia. This institute holds some of the original fish specimens. These specimens helped scientists describe the species.
