Java Combtooth Blenny

A pale greenish species with bright yellow or golden ring around the eye, silvery line with orange below from under the eye to top of the pectoral fin base and a black spot around the anus (Ref. 48636).

Oviparous, distinct pairing (Ref. 205).

Inhabits coastal reefs and on deep lagoon bommies. Occurs frequently at depths less than 15 m. In small groups in shallow depths on large sponges or brain corals (Ref. 48636).

Adults inhabit coastal reefs and on deep lagoon bommies. They occur frequently at depths less than 15 m. In small groups in shallow depths on large sponges or brain corals (Ref. 48636). Oviparous. Eggs are demersal and adhesive (Ref. 205), and are attached to the substrate via a filamentous, adhesive pad or pedestal (Ref. 94114). Larvae are planktonic, often found in shallow, coastal waters (Ref. 94114). Minimum depth from Ref. 58018.

aquarium: commercial

Ecsenius melarchus

Ecsenius stigmatura Fowler,—Springer, 1971:30 [in part].

DESCRIPTION (see Table 5 for frequencies of certain counts; other counts, with frequencies in parentheses, as follows).—Dorsal-fin spines 12(73); pectoral-fin rays 13(3), 14(57); segmented caudal-fin rays 13(5), 14(33); dorsal procurrent caudal-fin rays 7(22), 8(12); ventral procurrent caudal-fin rays 6(16), 7(16), 8(2); total caudal-fin elements 26(1), 27(13), 28(9), 29(10); pseudobranchial filaments 6(34), 7(1); lower jaw (one side) posterior canine teeth 0(13), 1(44), 2(1); total lower jaw posterior canine teeth 0(3), 1(12), 2(41), 3(1), 4(1); precaudal vertebrae 10(63), 11(1); caudal vertebrae 22(6), 23(50), 24(8); total vertebrae 32(6), 33(54), 34(10); epipleural ribs 11(2), 12(14), 13(4). Lateral line with no paired pores, extending posteriorly to below level of 8th(35), 9th(22) or 10th(1) dorsal-fin spine. Dorsal fin notched six-ninths (4), seven-ninths (26), or eight-ninths (2) length of first segmented dorsal-fin ray. Data for the holotype are given in Table 2.

Color Pattern: In preservative, head and body dusky brown, darker dorsally. Indistinct, narrow, dark stripe extends from posteroventral margin of eye to posterior margin of opercle at upper pectoral-fin base. Prominent dark spot extends anteriorly from anus. Dorsal fin dusky basally and along margins of rays; interradial membranes clear. Anal fin dusky with indistinct light stripe proximally. Basal portion of all caudal-fin rays and entire length of middle four rays dusky, remainder of fin immaculate. Pectoral and pelvic fins with dark pigment along rays; interradial membranes clear.

Ground color is variable; usually it is quite dark, but some specimens appear faded. Delay in fixation of specimens in the field, however, often results in specimens having a faded appearance.

One male specimen (34.5 mm SL) from Karimundjawa has a light stripe beneath the dusky head stripe (not as distinct as the pale stripe on the opercle of the closely related E. stigmatura). One male specimen (33.1 mm SL) from Kabaena exhibits a row of seven small, pale spots on its body beneath the dorsal fin, a row of six slightly larger, pale spots mid-laterally, and a pale triangular patch just anterior to the first dorsal-fin spine. Another male (29.5 mm SL) from Kabaena shows similar but more irregular spots on its body.

A Kodachrome slide of a freshly preserved specimen from the Seribu Islands shows a brilliant white stripe extending from beneath eye to upper base of pectoral fin and a faint orange stripe beneath the white stripe. Otherwise, the color shown is similar to that of alcohol-preserved specimens.

GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION.—No significant meristic differences between populations were noted.

SEXUAL DIMORPHISM,—The upper and/or lower caudal-fin rays of males generally become longer with increase in SL, a condition not found to any appreciable extent in females (males with longest caudal-fin ray ranging from 23.1–48.7 percent SL; females with longest ray 21.3–31.9 percent SL). No other significant meristic or morphometric differences between sexes were noted.

RELATIONSHIPS.—E. melarchus, E. stigmatura, and E. lividinalis constitute the stigmatura species group, which is characterized by having a black anal spot and typically 14 segmented caudal-fin rays. E. melarchus has higher numbers of dorsal-, anal-, and pectoral-fin rays and vertebrae than E. lividinalis. The depth of the dorsal-fin notch is typically greater for E. melarchus than E. lividinalis. E. melarchus can be distinguished from E. stigmatura primarily by the absence of the large, dark spot on the caudal peduncle. Additionally, the fresh color of E. melarchus is strikingly different from that of E. stigmatura (see above and color pattern description for E stigmatura). Although all the counts for E. melarchus and E. stigmatura overlap (Table 5), significant differences between the species exist in the means for segmented dorsal-fin rays (t = 3.84; df = 95; p = < .001), segmented anal-fin rays (t = 2.89; df = 94; .01 > p > .001), dentary incisor teeth (t = 4.35; df = 73; p = < .001), and gill rakers (t = 4.34; df = 44; p = < .001).

分布於西太平洋區，包括沙巴、印尼、菲律賓及南中國海等。台灣分布於南沙太平島海域。

小型魚類，色彩豔麗，是受歡迎的水族用魚。

體延長，稍側扁，似圓柱狀；頭鈍短。前鼻孔具1鼻鬚，無眼上鬚及頸鬚。背鰭具缺刻；背鰭、臀鰭最後軟條與尾柄以鰭膜相連；尾鰭鰭條均不分支。體呈淡綠色，體背側較暗色；眼圍具黃金色線紋；眼前緣至胸鰭基頂點具一條上銀下橘之斑紋。

主要棲息於沿岸礁石區或較深之潟湖區，通常深度超過15公尺。經常成一小群停棲於大圓礁或海綿的頂端。以藻類及碎屑為食。

Escenius melarchus resting

Ecsenius melarchus, known commonly as the yellow-eyed comb-tooth or the Java combtooth-blenny in Indonesia, is a species of combtooth blenny in the genus Ecsenius. It is found in coral reefs in the western Pacific ocean. It can reach a maximum length of 5 centimetres. Blennies in this species primarily feed off of plants, including benthic algae and weeds, and are commercial aquarium fish. The specific name "melarchus" is Latin for "black anus", and refers to the black anal marking on the blennies in this species.