Cirripectes alboapicalis

Blenny | Whitedotted Blenny
Cirripectes alboapicalis
Cirripectes alboapicalis, Lord Howe Island, NSW, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Cirripectes alboapicalis
Cirripectes alboapicalis, Lord Howe Is, NSW, Photo: Rick Stuart-Smith
Cirripectes alboapicalis
Cirripectes alboapicalis, Kermadec Islands, New Zealand, Photo: Graham Edgar
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Cirripectes alboapicalis
Cirripectes alboapicalis
Cirripectes alboapicalis

Distribution

Temperate Australasia, Tropical Indo-Pacific


Description

Blunt head and relatively heavy body. Dark colouration with many evenly-spaced small blue/white spots (not on fins), and a dark spot on head behind eye. Tail fin orange/red and anal fin may have blueish edge. Like most Cirripectes species, sits motionless on reef until approached then rapidly darts for cover making identification difficult.


Information

Max Size: 12 cm

Sea Temperature Range: 17.4-26.7°C

Depth: 0-10m

Habitat Generalization Index: 4.41

Also referred to as the SGI (Species Generalisation Index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here.


Conservation and Rarity

IUCN Status: Not Evaluated

Occurrence: Infrequent (8.3% of sites)

Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed

Abundance: Few (5 per transect)

Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.


Edit by: Joe Shields