Acanthemblemaria is a genus of chaenopsid blennies native to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Etymology
Acanthemblemaria: Greek, akantha = thorn + Greek, emblema, -atos, anything that is nailed, knocked in; also anything with bass or high relief[1]
Description
Body elongated; head short and blunt; pointed or blunt spines on snout, below eye, sometimes on top of head; 2 rows of very well developed teeth on the roof of the mouth; 1 pair of branched or unbranched cirri over eyes; cirri over nostrils; usually with a notch between the spiny and soft parts of the dorsal fin
Species
The 21 recognized species in this genus are:[2]
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Acanthemblemaria aspera (Longley, 1927) (roughhead blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria atrata Hastings & D. R. Robertson, 1999 (Cocos barnacle blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria balanorum Brock, 1940 (clubhead blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria betinensis Smith-Vaniz & Palacio, 1974 (speckled blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria castroi J. S. Stephens & Hobson, 1966 (Galapagos barnacle blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria chaplini J. E. Böhlke, 1957 (papillose blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria crockeri Beebe & Tee-Van, 1938 (browncheek blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria exilispinus J. S. Stephens, 1963 (bluntspine blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria greenfieldi Smith-Vaniz & Palacio, 1974 (false papillose blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria hancocki G. S. Myers & Reid, 1936 (Hancock's blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria harpeza J. T. Williams, 2002
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Acanthemblemaria hastingsi H. C. Lin & Galland, 2010 (Cortez barnacle blenny)[3]
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Acanthemblemaria johnsoni Almany & C. C. Baldwin, 1996
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Acanthemblemaria macrospilus Brock, 1940 (barnacle blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria mangognatha Hastings & D. R. Robertson, 1999 (Revillagigedo barnacle blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria maria J. E. Böhlke] 1961 (secretary blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria medusa Smith-Vaniz & Palacio, 1974 (Medusa blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria paula G. D. Johnson & Brothers, 1989 (dwarf spinyhead blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria rivasi J. S. Stephens, 1970 (spotjaw blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria spinosa Metzelaar, 1919 (spinyhead blenny)
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Acanthemblemaria stephensi Rosenblatt & McCosker, 1988 (Malpelo barnacle blenny)
Behavior and diet
Acanthemblemaria are mostly filter feeding fishes, they inhabit coral reefs, rocky reefs and abandoned worm and mollusc tubes.[4]
They feed mostly on passing benthic crustaceans, zooplankton, benthic worms,
References
