Acanthemblemaria spinosa Metzelaar 1919

Dorsal spines (total): 20 - 22; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 16; Analspines: 2; Analsoft rays: 21 - 25

Inhabits small patch reefs surrounded by white sand (Ref. 5521). Observed primarily on dead surfaces of elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata), but significantly more males than females were found on live coral surfaces. Males occurred twice as frequently as females in the vacated constructed tubes of serpulid worms or vermetid mollusks that provided greater surface for egg deposition (Ref. 47880). Feed mainly on planktonic calanoid copepods (Ref. 94105).