Variable Sabretooth Blenny, Petroscirtes variabilis Cantor 1850
Other Names: Sabertooth Blenny, Saber-toothed Blenny, Variable Fangblenny, Variable Sabre-tooth, Viper Blenny
A Variable Sabretooth Blenny, Petroscirtes variabilis, at Nambucca Heads, New South Wales, January 2013. Source: Ian Shaw / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial
Summary:
Males are orange-brown with a yellowish belly, while females are green to olive-green above, and paler below. While some individuals are mostly plain green with small pearly spots, others have large irregular dark blotches along the upper side, and barred or spotted dorsal fin.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2018, Petroscirtes variabilis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/1084
Variable Sabretooth Blenny, Petroscirtes variabilis Cantor 1850
More Info
|
Distribution |
Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory, to northeast of Port Macquarie, New South Wales, and possibly south to Sydney Harbour. Elsewhere the species occurs in the east-Indo-West Pacific from Sri Lanka to Fiji, and north to southern Taiwan and the Yaeyama Islands, southern Japan. Inhabits estuaries, mangroves and seagrass beds, often in shallow lagoons. The Variable Sabretooth Blenny may also shelter in Sargassum rafts. |
|
Features |
Dorsal fin X-XI, 16-19; Anal fin II, 16-19 (rarely 19); Pectoral fin 13-15. Gill opening narrow, positioned entirely above pectoral fin; all caudal fin rays unbranched; posttemporal cirri present; a pair of enlarged canines without a venom groove anteriorly on lower jaw. |
|
Feeding |
Feeds mostly on small crustaceans, often browsed from seagrass leaves. The species also consumes sessile invertebrates and occasionally takes scales from fishes. |
|
Similar Species |
The Variable Sabretooth Blenny is similar to the Brown Sabretooth Blenny, Petroscirtes breviceps, in shape but has a blotched, rather than lined pattern on the body. |
|
Species Citation |
Petroscirtes variabilis Cantor 1850, J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 18(2): 1182. Type: Sea of Penang, Singapore (as Pinang). |
|
Author |
Bray, D.J. 2018 |
|
Resources |
Variable Sabretooth Blenny, Petroscirtes variabilis Cantor 1850
References
Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.
Cantor, T.E. 1850. Catalogue of Malayan fishes. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal 18(2): 983-1443 pls 1-14
De Vis, C.W. 1884. New fishes in the Queensland Museum. No. 4. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1 9(3): 685-698 (as Salarias viperidens)
Ferraris, C.J. & Murdy, E.O. 1981. Aspects of Sexual Dimorphism and Feeding in Petroscirtes variabilis Cantor (Osteichthys: Blenniidae). Micronesica 17(1&2): 157-160 Ref available online
Gorelova, T.A. & Fedoryako, B.I. 1986. Topic and trophic relationships of fishes associated with drifting Sargassum algae. Journal of Ichthyology 26(2): 63-72.
Grant, E.M. 1975. Guide to Fishes. Brisbane : Queensland Government, Co-ordinator General’s Department 640 pp.
Johnson, J.W. 1999. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 43(2): 709-762.
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. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.
Kuiter, R.H. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 2. Fusiliers - Dragonets, Caesionidae - Callionymidae. Australia : Zoonetics pp. 304-622.
Marshall, T.C. 1964. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coastal Waters of Queensland. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 566 pp. 136 pls.
Nakamura, Y., Horinouchi, M., Nakai, T. & Sano, M. 2003. Food habits of fishes in a seagrass bed on a fringing coral reef at Iriomote Island, southern Japan. Ichthyological Research 50: 15-22.
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: Blenniidae): an update. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 139: 1-52 figs 1-29
Watson, W. 2009. Larval development in blennies, pp. 309-350 in Patzner, R.A., Gonçalves, E.J., Hastings, P.A. & Kapoor, B.G. (eds) The biology of blennies. Science Publishers, Enfield, NH, USA. 482 pp.
Williams, J., Smith-Vaniz, W. and Hastings, P. 2014. Petroscirtes variabilis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T48342187A48391767. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T48342187A48391767.en. Downloaded on 01 December 2018.
Yatsu, A., Iwata, A. & Sato, M. 1983. First records of the blenniid fishes, Petroscirtes springeri and Petroscirtes variabilis, from Japan. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 30(3): 297-300.
