Yellow Sabretooth Blenny, Petroscirtes fallax Smith-Vaniz 1976


Other Names: Deceiver Fangblenny, Reef Sabretooth Blenny, Yellow Sabertooth Blenny, Yellow Sabre-tooth, Yellow-lined Sabretooth Blenny

A Yellow-lined Sabretooth Blenny, Petroscirtes fallax, at Halifax Point, Port Stephens, New South Wales, June 2009. Source: Richard Ling / Flickr. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Summary:
A small yellow to whitish sabretooth blenny with three black stripes on the body, the lowermost stripe extending well onto the pectoral-fin base, but not onto the anal-fin base, a black spot on the outer margin of the anterior dorsal fin, and clear anal and caudal fins.
The Yellow Sabretooth Blenny may mimic the Line Fangblenny, Meiacanthus lineatus, which has a pair of venomous canines in the lower jaw.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2021, Petroscirtes fallax in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/1082

Yellow Sabretooth Blenny, Petroscirtes fallax Smith-Vaniz 1976

More Info


Distribution

Entire length of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, to Lake Conjola, New South Wales. Elsewhere the species occurs in the west-Pacific. 
Inhabits lagoon and coastal reefs, sheltered bays and estuaries in depths to 15 m.

Size

To 10 cm in length

Etymology

The specific name is from the Latin fallax (deceitful or deceptive), presumably in reference to the behaviour of this species in mimicing the venomous Line Fangblenny, Meiacanthus lineatus.

Species Citation

Petroscirtes fallax Smith-Vaniz, 1976, Monogr. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 19: 42, figs 13, 113. Type locality: One Tree Island, Capricorn Group, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2021

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Yellow Sabretooth Blenny, Petroscirtes fallax Smith-Vaniz 1976

References


Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Brothers, E.B., Williams, D.McB. & Sale, P.F. 1983. Length of larval life in twelve families of fishes at 'One Tree Lagoon', Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Marine Biology 76: 319-324.

Grant, E.M. 1991. Fishes of Australia. Brisbane : EM Grant Pty Ltd 480 pp.

Johnson, J.W. 1999. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 43(2): 709-762. See ref at BHL

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Kuiter, R.H. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls.

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to sea fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1976. The saber-toothed blennies, tribe Nemophini (Pisces : Blenniidae). Monographs of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 19: 1-196 figs 1-179

Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1987. The saber-toothed blennies, tribe Nemophini (Pisces: Bleniidae): an update. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 139: 1-52

Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 2005. Petroscirtes pylei, a new saber-toothed blenny from the Fiji Islands (Teleostei: Blenniidae). Zootaxa 1046: 29-36. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1046.1.3

Springer, V.G. 2001. Blenniidae. pp. 3538-3546 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218.

Williams, J.T. 2014. Petroscirtes fallax. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T48342191A48374147. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T48342191A48374147.en. Downloaded on 25 May 2020.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37408072

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:1-15 m

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:10 cm TL

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Species Maps

CAAB distribution map