Patagonian blennie
Eleginopidae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Suborder: Notothenioidei
Family: Eleginopidae
T. N. Gill, 1893[1]
Genus: Eleginops
T. N. Gill, 1862[2]
Species:
E. maclovinus
Binomial name
Eleginops maclovinus
(G. Cuvier, 1830)
Synonyms[3]
  • Eleginus maclovinus G. Cuvier, 1830
  • Aphritis porosus Jenyns, 1842
  • Pseudaphritis porosus (Jenyns, 1842)

The Patagonian blennie (Eleginops maclovinus), also known as the rock cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, belonging to the monotypic family Eleginopidae and monotypic genus Eleginops. It is found in coastal and estuarine habitats around southernmost South America.

Taxonomy

The Patagonian blennie was first formally described in 1830 as Eleginus maclovinus by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier with the type locality given as the Falkland Islands.[4] Cuvier's genus name was later shown to be unavailable as it was a junior synonym of the cod genus Eleginus described by Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim in 1813, Theodore Nicholas Gill renamed the genus as Eleginops, meaning "similar to Eleginus in 1862. Gill then placed it in the monotypic family Eleginopidae in 1893. The specific name maclovinus means belonging to the Maclove Islands, an old name for the Falkland Islands.[5] The Eleginopidae are the sister family of the Bovichtidae and Pseudaphritidae and these are all sister to the rest of the families in the Notothenioidei which have been placed in the suggested superfamily Cryonotothenioidea.[6]

Description

The Patagonian blennie has 7-8 spines in its first dorsal fin and 23-27 soft rays in its second dorsal fin. The caudal fin is emarginate. The colour of the body is blue brown above and silvery yellow below. Both dorsal fins are greyish in colour and the caudal fin is brownish and these fins have yellowish margins. The anal fin is light brown.[3] It reaches about 105 cm (3.44 ft) in length.[7]

Distribution and habitat

The Patagonian blennie is found in the southeastern Pacific and southwestern Atlantic Ocean from Valparaiso in Chile south to Tierra del Fuego and north along the coast of Patagonia in Argentina,[8][7] It is also found around the Falkland Islands. They are found in coastal, estuarine, and tidally influenced rivers.[9]

Biology

The Patagonian blennie is an omnivore, tending towards carnivore. In some parts of its range, it is especially fond of Paracorophium,[9] but it is opportunistic, and its exact diet depends on the availability in the habitat where the individual fish lives. It can live for up to 10 years.[7] It appears to be a protandrous hermaphrodite, in one study males were found at lengths between 19 and 45 cm (7.5 and 17.7 in) while females were found at 27 and 58 cm (11 and 23 in) which suggested that the sex change from male to female took place at ages between 2 and 7 years old.[7]

Fisheries

The Patagonian blennie is commonly fished in parts of its range.[10] There have been trials for the use of this species as a cleaner fish to control sea lice in the aquaculture of salmonids in Chile.[11]

Human culture

The Patagonian blennie has been featured on a stamp in the Falkland Islands issued in 1994.[12] In Argentina and Chile, it is often called róbalo, a name also used for the common snook.[9]

Religious significance to the indigenous people

The abundant and nutritious patagonian blennies were apparently not consumed by the indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego. Rock art suggests the fish may have had some religious significance.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of Recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 001–230. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  2. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Eleginopidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  3. 1 2 Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2021). "Eleginops maclovinus" in FishBase. June 2021 version.
  4. ↑ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Eleginops". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  5. ↑ Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara, eds. (12 April 2021). "Order Perciformes: Suborder Notothenoididei: Families Bovichtidae, Pseaudaphritidae, Elegopinidae, Nototheniidae, Harpagiferidae, Artedidraconidae, Bathydraconidae, Channichthyidae and Percophidae". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  6. ↑ Thomas J. Near; Ava Ghezelayagh; F. Patricio Ojeda; Alex Dornburg (2019). "Recent diversification in an ancient lineage of Notothenioid fishes (Bovichtus: Notothenioidei)". Polar Biology. 42: 943–952. doi:10.1007/s00300-019-02489-1.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Roberto Licandeo; Claudio A. Barrientos; M. Teresa González (2006). "Age, Growth Rates, Sex Change and Feeding Habits of Notothenioid Fish Eleginops Maclovinus from the Central-southern Chilean Coast". Environmental Biology of Fishes. 77 (1): 51–61. doi:10.1007/s10641-006-9054-z.
  8. ↑ "Eleginops maclovinus (Róbalo Patagónico, Bacalao Austral - Patagonian Blennie) | SIB, Parques Nacionales, Argentina". Sistema de Información de Biodiversidad (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  9. 1 2 3 Paves, Héctor; Pequeno, Germán; Bertran, Carlos & Vargas, Luis (2005). "Limnetic feeding in eleginops maclovinus (valenciennes, 1830) in the valdivia river, Chile". Interciencia. 30 (3): 120–125.
  10. ↑ Renato A. Quiñones and Rodrigo Montes (2001). "Relationship between freshwater input to the coastal zone and the historical landings of the benthic/demersal fish Eleginops maclovinus in central-south Chile". Fisheries Oceanography. 10 (4): 311–328.
  11. ↑ Christian Pérez (2018). "A clean break for Chilean aquaculture". The Fish Site.
  12. ↑ "Stamp catalog : Stamp › Patagonian Blenny (Eleginops maclovinus)". Colnect Collectors Club Community. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  13. ↑ Fiore, Danae; Francisco, Atilio; Zangrando, J. (2006). "Painted fish, eaten fish: Artistic and archaeofaunal representations in Tierra del Fuego, Southern South America". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 25 (3): 371–389. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2006.01.001.
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