Clinid

Clinids are blennioids; perciform marine fish

Fish

A fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...

 of the family Clinidae. Temperate blennies, the family ranges from the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...

, Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...

 and Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...

s, in both the Southern

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is south of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball'...

 and Northern Hemisphere

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...

. The family contains approximately 86 species in 20 genera, the 60 centimetre long giant kelpfish

Giant kelpfish

The Giant Kelpfish is a marine fish found on the west coast of North America. It is found from British Columbia to southern Baja California....

 (Heterostichus rostratus) being the largest; most are far smaller.

With small cycloid scales, clinoid blennies may have a deep or slender build; some members of the family bear the name "snake blenny" and "eel blenny" for this reason.

Clinids are blennioids; perciform marine fish

Fish

A fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...

 of the family Clinidae. Temperate blennies, the family ranges from the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...

, Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...

 and Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...

s, in both the Southern

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is south of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball'...

 and Northern Hemisphere

Northern Hemisphere

The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of the equator—the word hemisphere literally means 'half sphere'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...

. The family contains approximately 86 species in 20 genera, the 60 centimetre long giant kelpfish

Giant kelpfish

The Giant Kelpfish is a marine fish found on the west coast of North America. It is found from British Columbia to southern Baja California....

 (Heterostichus rostratus) being the largest; most are far smaller.

With small cycloid scales, clinoid blennies may have a deep or slender build; some members of the family bear the name "snake blenny" and "eel blenny" for this reason. Dorsal spines outnumber soft rays; there are two spines in the anal fin. Like many other blennies, clinids possess whisker-like structures on the head called cirri.

The majority of species possess rich, highly variable coloration in shades of reddish brown to olive, often with cryptic patterns; this suits the lifestyle of clinid blennies, which frequent areas of dense weed or kelp

Kelp

{Taxobox| name =Kelp| image = Kelp In Freycinet Tasmania.jpg| image_width = 300px| image_caption = Kelp on rocky beach in Freycinet, Tasmania| regnum = Chromalveolata| phylum = Heterokontophyta| classis = Phaeophyceae| ordo = Laminariales...

. Generally staying within intertidal zones to depths of about 40 metres, some species are also found in tide pools. Eggs are deposited on kelp for the male to guard. Clinids feed primarily on small crustacean

Crustacean

Crustaceans are a very large group of arthropods, comprising almost 52,000 described species , and are usually treated as a subphylum . They include various familiar animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles...

s and mollusks.

The name clinid derives from the Greek

Greek language

Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...

 klinein meaning "sloping", a reference to the shape of the sphenoid bone

Sphenoid bone

The sphenoid bone is an unpaired bone situated at the base of the skull in front of the temporal bone and basilar part of the occipital bone.The sphenoid bone is one of the seven bones that articulate to form the orbit...

.

Genera

• Genus Blennioclinus
• Genus Blennophis
• Genus Cancelloxus
• Genus Cirrhibarbis
• Genus Climacoporus
• Genus Clinitrachus
• Genus Clinoporus
• Genus Clinus
• Genus Cologrammus
• Genus Cristiceps
  Cristiceps
  Cristiceps is a genus of weedfish in the family Clinidae.-Species:* Silver-sided weedfish, Cristiceps argyropleura Kner, 1865* Golden weedfish, Cristiceps aurantiacus Castelnau, 1879...
  
  
• Genus Ericentrus
• Genus Fucomimus
• Genus Gibbonsia
• Genus Heteroclinus
• Genus Heterostichus Girard, 1854
• Genus Muraenoclinus
• Genus Myxodes
• Genus Ophiclinops
• Genus Pavoclinus
• Genus Peronedys
• Genus Ribeiroclinus
• Genus Smithichthys
• Genus Springeratus
• Genus Sticharium
• Genus Xenopoclinus

External links

• FishBase entry for Clinidae