Pacific Doubleline Clingfish, Lepadichthys geminus Briggs 1969


Other Names: Crinoid Clingfish, Precious Clingfish

A Pacific Doubleline Clingfish, Lepadichthys geminus, at Kubu Indah, Bali, Indonesia, August 2012. Source: Henry Jager / Flickr. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives

Summary:
A reddish-brown clingfish with seven yellowish stripes: a stripe from the snout tip to the dorsal-fin origin, two stripes along the side, a narrow yellowish stripe on abdomen on either side of ventral midline, and small pale dots between the stripes along the back and sides, and a yellowish u-shaped line from each side of the pelvic disc to the ventral tip of the lower jaw.

In Australia, the Pacific Doubleline Clingfish has previously been known as Lepadichthys caritus, a junior synonym of L. lineatus, which is an Indian Ocean species: Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Seychelles and Sri Lanka.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2022, Lepadichthys geminus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 19 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/1156

Pacific Doubleline Clingfish, Lepadichthys geminus Briggs 1969

More Info


Distribution

Northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, and reefs in the Coral Sea, to at least Byron Bay, New South Wales; also Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere, the species is occurs in southern Japan and Indonesia.
Lives on crinoids on coral and rocky reefs.

Features

Dorsal fin 9-11; Anal fin 8-10; Pectoral fin 25-27; Gill rakers (first arch) 6-7. 
Body relatively slender, anus positioned close to anal-fin origin; pelvic disc almost circular; snout tip directed upward, usually horizontally level with lower margin of eye lens.

Size

to 27 mm SL

Colour

Body reddish-brown (or bright red), with seven yellowish stripes: one along the dorsal midline from snout tip to dorsal-fin origin; two stripes on each side - upper stripe from the middle of upper jaw through top of eye and above pectoral fin base to caudal fin base; lower stripe from rear of lower jaw running below pupil and middle of gill opening to caudal-fin base; abdomen with a narrow yellowish stripe on either side of ventral midline.

Feeding

Feeds on the pinnulae of the crinoid host.

Etymology

The specific name is from the Latin geminus (= twin, double) in reference to the two yellow stripes under the abdomen, and the close morphological similarity of the new species to L. lineatus, with which it has previously been identified.

Species Citation

Lepadichthys geminus Fujihara & Motomura 2021, Journal of Fish Biology 100(1): 66, Figs. 1a-b, 2, 3a, 4a-e, 5a-g, 6. Type locality: Okinoerabu Island, Amami Islands, Kagoshima, Japan, 27°24'17"N, 128°32'20"E, depth 20-25 m.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2022

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Pacific Doubleline Clingfish, Lepadichthys geminus Briggs 1969

References


Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp. (as Lepadichthys lineatus)

Allen, G.R., Hoese, D.F., Paxton, J.R., Randall, J.E., Russell, B.C., Starck, W.A., Talbot, F.H. & Whitley, G.P. 1976. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Lord Howe Island. Records of the Australian Museum 30(15): 365-454 figs 1-2 (as Lepadichthys caritus)

Coleman, N. 1974. Australian Marine Fishes in Colour. Sydney : A.H. & A.W. Reid 108 pp. (as Lepadichthys caritus)

Coleman, N. 1980. Australian Sea Fishes South of 30ºS. Lane Cove, NSW : Doubleday Australia Pty Ltd 309 pp. (as Lepadichthys caritus)

Francis, M. 1993. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. Pacific Science 47(2): 136-170 figs 1-2 (as Lepadichthys caritus)

Fujiwara, K. & Motomura, H. 2021. Review of the Lepadichthys lineatus complex (Gobiesocidae: Diademichthyinae) with descriptions of three new species. Journal of Fish Biology 100(1): 62-81. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14919

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 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) (as Lepadichthys caritus)

Kuiter, R.H. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 1. Eels - Snappers, Muraenidae - Lutjanidae. Australia : Zoonetics pp. 1-302. (as Lepadichthys lineatus)

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37206020

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:5-25 m

Habitat:Reef associated, on criniods

Max Size:2.7 cm SL

Species Image Gallery

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map