Pacific leaping blenny
{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Alticus arnoldorum jumping - pone.0011197.s008.ogv
| image_alt = A Leaping Blenny curls its tail and jumps out of sight.
| image_caption = A leaping blenny jumping
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Alticus arnoldorum
| authority = (Curtiss, 1938)
| synonyms = * Blennius arnoldorum Curtiss, 1938
| synonyms_ref = [http://www.fishbase.org/Nomenclature/SynonymsList.php?ID=56805&SynCode=138805&GenusName=Alticus&SpeciesName=arnoldorum Synonyms of Alticus arnoldorum] at www.fishbase.org.Curtiss, A., 1938 [ref. 18057] A short zoology of Tahiti in the Society islands. Guide Printing Company, Inc., Brooklyn, New York. i-xvi + 1-193.
}}
The Pacific leaping blenny (Alticus arnoldorum), also known as the leaping rockskipper,[http://www.fishbase.org/comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=56805&GenusName=Alticus&SpeciesName=arnoldorum&StockCode=46687 Common names for Alticus arnoldorum at www.fishbase.org.] is a species of combtooth blenny (family Blenniidae) in the genus Alticus. The blennies are oviparous, and form distinct pairs when mating.[http://www.fishbase.org/Reproduction/FishReproSummary.php?ID=56805&GenusName=Alticus&SpeciesName=arnoldorum&fc=392&StockCode=46687 Reproduction of Alticus arnoldorum] at www.fishbase.org. Males can reach a maximum total length of 8 centimetres (3.15 inches).[https://archive.today/20120731081401/http://www.fishwise.co.za/Default.aspx?TabID=110&SpecieConfigId=280490&GenusSpecies=Alticus_arnoldorum Alticus arnoldorum] at www.fishwise.co.za. These fish feed primarily on benthic algae,[http://www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/FoodItemsList.php?vstockcode=46687&genus=Alticus&species=arnoldorum Food items reported for Alticus arnoldorum] at www.fishbase.org. which they consume by scraping off rocky surfaces.
Description
Male Pacific leaping blennies have prominent head crests and orange-red dorsal fins.{{cite journal | title=
How populations differentiate despite gene flow: sexual and natural selection drive phenotypic divergence within a land fish, the Pacific leaping blenny | last1=Morgans | first1=CL | last2=Cooke | first2=GM | last3=Ord | first3=TJ | journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology | volume=14 | issue=97 | date=6 May 2014 | page=97 | pmid=24884492 | pmc=4055934 | doi=10.1186/1471-2148-14-97 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2014BMCEE..14...97M }}
Distribution and habitat
The Pacific leaping blenny is a tropical blenny found in reefs in Samoa and the Marianas, Society, and Cook Islands, in the western and southern Pacific Ocean.[http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?genusname=Alticus&speciesname=arnoldorum Alticus arnoldorum] at www.fishbase.org. The blennies are noted for leaping from hole to hole in the limestone rocks they inhabit, when disturbed; each of the common names for the species is derived from this. They are able to dwell on land for several hours at a time, and have been reported performing many activities, including foraging and mating while out of the water. However, they are only able to survive on land during midtide; if they remain out of water when the tide lowers enough that they cannot be kept moist, they dry out and suffocate.[https://web.archive.org/web/20111004142734/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/pictures/110901-walking-fish-pacific-leaping-blenny-evolution-animals/ Pictures: "Walking" Fish a Model of Evolution in Action.] Christine Dell'Amore, September 1st, 2011. National Geographic News. In a study performed by Tonia Hsieh of Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it was discovered that members of A. arnoldorum are able to thrive on land due to their ability to twist their tails axially at 90 degrees, to propel their bodies. Hsieh noted that the twisting of the tail was a behaviourism unique to A. arnoldorum and species in the genus Andamia; the two genera were subsequently considered terrestrial.[https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/fishkeeping-news/pacific-leaping-blenny-now-considered-a-terrestrial-species/ "Pacific leaping blenny now considered a terrestrial species"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224111602/http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=2988 |date=2013-12-24 }} www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk
Name
The identity of the person commemorated in the specific name of this blenny is unclear. The author, Curtiss, is known to have read The Sea-Beach at Ebb-Tide: A Guide to the Study of the Seaweeds and the Lower Animal Life Found Between Tidemarks by Augusta Foote Arnold (1844-1903) and gave several taxa a similar epithet.{{cite web | url = http://www.etyfish.org/blenniiformes2/ | title = Order BLENNIIFORMES: Family BLENNIIDAE | work = The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database | accessdate = 24 February 2019 | date = 26 October 2018 | author1 = Christopher Scharpf | author2 = Kenneth J. Lazara | publisher = Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Alticus arnoldorum}}
- {{ITIS|ID=636263}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120320165301/http://www.eerc.com.au/ord/ord_hsieh_2011.pdf A Highly Social, Land-Dwelling Fish Defends Territories in a Constantly Fluctuating Environment] by Terry J. Ord in E&ERC
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1758732}}
Category:Taxa named by Anthony Curtiss
Category:Fish described in 1938