Tiger Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius tigris Springer 1988
Other Names: Tiger Blenny
A Tiger Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius tigris, at Halfway Wall, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Source: Thierry Rakotoarivelo / http://www.inbetweendives.com/. License: All rights reserved
Summary:
A tan coloured blenny with a row of black spots or short bars along the back, white spots between the bars, a midlateral row of white dashes, and a second row of short dark bars along the lower sides. This small combtooth blenny is found only on the Great Barrier Reef and reefs in the Coral Sea off Queensland, Australia.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2020, Ecsenius tigris in Fishes of Australia, accessed 30 Apr 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1069
Tiger Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius tigris Springer 1988
More Info
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Distribution |
Known only from the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, reefs in the western Coral Sea off Queensland. |
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Colour |
Iris and pupil black with fine, bright-white or pale-yellow stripes extending dorsal and ventral to pupil; three small, bright-white or pale-yellow dash-like spots on dorsal surface of eye; short stripe-like marks on head in line with and same color as eye stripes (marks border dark postorbital stripe dorsally and ventrally); fine, bright-white or pale-yellow stripe between eyes anteriorly; bright-white or pale-yellow spot dorsal to latter stripe; head dusky yellow to plain brown dorsal to midorbital level; cheeks pink. Dusky stripes on body pinkish-orange brown to brown; row of small, bright-white spots in interspaces between dorsal dark marks; another row of rectangular or dash-like bright white spots along body midline. Fins untinted except for brownish orange stripe in anal fin. (Springer 1988) |
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Similar Species |
The Tiger Combtooth Blenny is similar Allen’s Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius alleni which has a large ocellated spot on the pectoral-fin base. E. alleni only occurs on reefs off the northern part of Western Australia. |
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Etymology |
The specific name is from the Greek tigris (=tiger), presumably in reference to the pattern a dark bars across the back and sides of this species. |
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Species Citation |
Ecsenius tigris Springer, 1988, Smithsonian Contrib. Zool. 465: 98, fig. 52, pl. 11(1). Type locality: Osprey Reef, Coral Sea, Queensland. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2020 |
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Resources |
Tiger Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius tigris Springer 1988
References
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. 1988. The Indo-Pacific Blenniid fish genus Ecsenius. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 465: 1-134 figs 1-68 pls 1-14 https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.465
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.
Springer, V.G. 2002. Ecsenius niue, new species of blenniid fish, and new distribution records for other species in the Opsifrontalis species group. Zootaxa 72: 1-6.
Springer, V.G. & J.E. Randall. 1999. Ecsenius polystictus, new species of blenniid fish from Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, with notes on other species of Ecsenius. Revue française d'Aquariologie Herpétologie 26(1-2): 39-48.
Williams, J.T. 2014. Ecsensius tigris. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T48342364A48367923. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T48342364A48367923.en. Downloaded on 14 November 2016.
