Animal Species:Australian Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius australianus Springer, 1988

The Australian Combtooth Blenny is a small fish that lives in shallow tropical waters. It has a red-brown body with two rows of white spots.

Australian Combtooth Blenny at Mantis Reef

Australian Combtooth Blenny at Mantis Reef
Erik Schlögl © Erik Schlögl

Alternative Name/s

Australian Blenny, Pale-spotted Coral Blenny

Identification

The Australian Combtooth Blenny can be recognised by its colouration. The upper two thirds of the body is red-brown with two rows of white spots. The lower third is white. There is a white-edged red-brown stripe through the eyes extending to the rear of the operculum.

Size range

The species grows to 6 cm in length.

Distribution

It occurs in tropical marine waters of the Western Pacific. In Australia it is known from the northern Great Barrier Reef and the islands of the Coral Sea.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Click on the map for detailed information.  Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Ecsenius australianus

Distribution by collection data

Ozcam map of Australian Combtooth Blenny specimens in the Australian Museum.

What does this mean?

Classification

Species:
australianus
Genus:
Ecsenius
Family:
Blenniidae
Order:
Perciformes
Class:
Actinopterygii
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
  2. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags fishes, ichthyology, Australian Blenny, Ecsenius australianus, Blenniidae, Australian Combtooth Blenny, brown, white, yellow, odd-shaped, long and skinny, < 10 cm, dots/spots, coral reef, marine, adult,