New Zealand slender clingfish
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| Gastrocyathus gracilis Briggs, 1955 |
The New Zealand slender clingfish, Gastrocyathus gracilis, is a clingfish of the family Gobiesocidae, the only species in the genus Gastrocyathus. It is found all down the east coast of New Zealand around the low water mark, amongst seaweed species with strap-like fronds, on rocky coastlines. Its length is up to 4.5 cm.
The New Zealand slender clingfish has transparent fins. It is distinguished from other clingfishes by its small size with a slender body tapering behind the head and the pointed fleshy tip on the upper jaw that overhangs the lower jaw.
Coloration is a uniform red-brown to yellowish with variable narrow bands along the head, level with the eye on the dorsal surface of the body, often breaking up into spots on the sides.
It feeds mainly on harpacticoid copepods.
[edit] References
- "Gastrocyathus puniceus". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
