Diagnosis: The modal fin-ray count of D-XXI,14-15 sA-23-24 P-13 with 35 or 36 total dorsal-fin elements indicates Acanthemblemaria spinosa, as well as A. harpeza (Navassa only), A. sp. Panama (note that A. spinosa is not recorded from Navassa or (?) Panama and the mainland S. American coastline), and the Emblemaria pandionis complex. The other common species, the roughhead blenny A. aspera, is found at most sites with A. spinosa and frequently has the same fin-ray counts (but modally one or two more dorsal-fin soft rays and much longer posterior rays). The A. aspera complex, including A. sp. Panama and (?)A. harpeza, notably often have 12 instead of 13 segmented caudal-fin rays. The modal fin-ray count broadly overlaps the range for some other Acanthemblemaria and Emblemaria species, as well as Protemblemaria punctata. The presence of cryptic species with differing fin-ray counts in various regions requires that the precise locality and the fin-ray counts of sympatric chaenopsids (or DNA sequencing) be known for species-level identification among this large group of species. (DNA) Description: st951 137 hv08a100 u871u8630u873
