Midas Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius midas Starck 1969


Other Names: Lyretail Blenny, Lyre-tail Comb-tooth, Midas Blenny, Persian Blenny

A Midas Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius midas, in the Andaman Islands. Source: Jason Marks / Wikimedia Commons. License: CC by Attribution-ShareAlike

Summary:
A golden-yellow, greyish or greenish combtooth blenny with a black spot around anus, a narrow dark margin on the dorsal fin, and long outer caudal-fin rays in adults. When swimming off the bottom, they often school amongst basslets of Fusilier Damsels, mimicing their swimming behaviour.  

Video of Midas Combtooth Blennies off Pantar, Indonesia, displaying courting colours.
A Midas Combtooth Blenny in an aquarium.
A Midas Combtooth Blenny making a new home.

Cite this page as:
Dianne J. Bray, Ecsenius midas in Fishes of Australia, accessed 28 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1065

Midas Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius midas Starck 1969

More Info


Distribution

Northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland; also Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. May school with Fusilier Damsels, Lepidozygus tapeinosoma, or with Pseudanthias squamipinnis and Pseudanthias huchtii.

Feeding

Feed on plankton a few metres off the bottom.

Species Citation

Ecsenius midas Starck 1969, Notulae Naturae, Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 419: 1, figs 1, 3. Type locality: D'Arros Island, Amirante Islands. 

Author

Dianne J. Bray

Resources

Australian Faunal Directory

Midas Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius midas Starck 1969

References


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

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

Allen, G.R. & Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 1-21.

Allen, G.R. & Steene, R.C. 1988. Fishes of Christmas Island Indian Ocean. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 197 pp. 

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp. 

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

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. 

Springer, V.G. 1971. Revision of the fish genus Ecsenius (Blenniidae, Blenniinae, Salariini). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 72: 1-74 figs 1-36 

Springer, V.G. 1972. Additions to revisions of the blenniid fish genera Ecsenius and Entomacrodus, with descriptions of three new species of Ecsenius. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 134: 1-13.

Springer, V.G. 1988. The Indo-Pacific Blenniid fish genus Ecsenius. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 465: 1-134 figs 1-68 pls 1-14 

Starck, W.A. 1969. Ecsenius (Anthiiblennius) midas a new subgenus and species of mimic blenny from the western Indian Ocean. Notulae Naturae, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 419: 1-9 figs 1-4

Watson, W. 2009. Larval development in blennies. pp. 309-350. In Patzner, R.A., E.J. Gonçalves, P.A. Hastings & B.G. Kapoor (eds) The biology of blennies. Science Publishers, Enfield, NH, USA. 482 pp.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37408028

Depth:2-30 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:13 cm TL

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Species Maps

CAAB distribution map