1. November 14, Fish Friday
1. Scombroidei
2. Grab bag of small
marine fishes
3. We will read the
Karieva et al. paper for
next Wednesday (not
Monday).
Life tables next week!

2. Test #2 - Not so good as test #1.
Grand Average = 37.9 (76%)
Undergraduate Average = 34.4 (68.8% - ouch!)
Graduate Average = 44.5 (89%)
If necessary, there might be a scale at the end. I prefer
to let the extra-credit bring the grades up.

3. Trachinoidei - sand divers, sand lances, weeverfishes, stargazers
Callionymoidei - dragonets
Gobiosocoidei - clingfishes
Blenniodei - All sorts of blennies, sand stargazers, and kelpfishes

4. We’re here.

5. Trachinoidei - sand divers, sand lances, weeverfishes, stargazers
Callionymoidei - dragonets
Gobiosocoidei - clingfishes
Blenniodei - All sorts of blennies, sand stargazers, and kelpfishes

6. Trachinoidei
weaverfish
sand divers

7. Stargazers -live life under the sand - pectoral fins as shovels
-eyes, nostrils, and mouth placed above
sand
-eyes capable of protruding a short distance
-some have internal nares (inhale water through
nostrils)
- some can produce electric current through
specialized pouch in the eye
--> for defense

8. Stargazers stargazer video -spawn eggs on the bottom,
but they float to the surface
-have venomous spines on
pectoral f in and behind opercle
- can supposedly be fatal under
the right circumstances
stargazer video

9. Stargazers
-eyes on the sides of head of juveniles, but migrate to top in adults.
                                             
                                                
                                                                                                                     
The developmental stages of the northern stargazer larvae. Note the migration of the eyes. in Development of Fishes of the Mid-Atlantic Bight - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

10. Weeverfish filleting weever fish -Very similar to stargazers
-eyes dorsal, mouth verticle,
fringes to prevent sand getting in mouth
- Also live in sand
- Also have venomous spines
--> associated with gill cover
spine and first dorsal spine
--> people get stung when they
step on them
filleting weever fish

11. Sandeels and Sandlances
-small, slender marine fish
- protruding lower jaw
- forked caudal fin
-long dorsal fin
-lacks a swim bladder
-burrows in sand
-common in temperate to cool seas
-pelvic fins reduced or absent

12. sanddivers - 6 species - indo-West Pacific
-dorsal fin with anterior ray extended in males and used for display
-hover in groups in shallow water, but diver into sand when alarmed

13. Blennies
The term “blenny” can refer to any of the following groups: triplefin blennies,
pikeblennies, tubeblennies, and combtooth blennies.
The family “Bleniidae” refers to the combtooth blennies spp.
- Blennies have male (or rarely, bi-) parental care and have
sticky, demersal eggs.
blenny video

14. Combtooth Blennies
-Single continuous dorsal fin
-- often w/flexible spines in front
and soft rays in back.
-Pelvic fins right under throat and
proceed the pectoral fins.
-Long anal fin.
-Fringes (cirri) on heads of most.
-Combtooth refers numerous, loosely
packed teeth over jaw.
-Pelagic larvae
-Diets quite diverse (algae, aquatic
invertebrates, plankton, skin/scales
of others).
-Small, benthic fish
Butterfly blenny - max size 8 in.
Tompot blenny - max size 12 in.

15. Tasmanian Blenny
Barnacle Blenny

16. Bicolor blenny
-lives in rocks/holes in coral
reefs
- comes out to eat algae
-supposedly, both males and
females have two-toned color

17. Clingfishes -120 spp. - family Gobiesocidae
- designed for clinging to rocks in the intertidal
-small, tadpole-like fishes with pelvic fin united into a large sucking disc
-lack scales, spines, and a swimbladder
- tend to be small
-lays eggs in a clump under a boulder
-guarded by a parent
-larvae and young fish planktonic
-soon settle on seabed

18. Dragonets - highly colored fish w/ showy fins
- often sexually dimorphic
- eggs and young are pelagic
- elaborate courtship
dragonet breeding

19. Review Questions.
1. Describe the position of the pectoral and pelvic fins for the following groups:
stargazers, weeverfish, sanddivers, blennies, clingfish, dragonets. Which of these
fish have venom associated with spines? Where are these venomous spines
located.
2. Describe the mating systems of stargzers, blennies, clingfishes, and dragonets.
3. Describe the adaptations of stargazers and weeverfish that allow them to live
submerged in the sand.
4. Where do clingfish live and how does the morphology of their pelvic fins reflect
this?
5. Who are the sabre-toothed blennies and what do they eat? Describe their
strategy for eating.