Animalia Life
Discotrema crinophila
FAMILY
Gobiesocidae
TAXONOMY
Discotrema crinophila Briggs, 1976, between Stuart and Yanuca
islands, Benga Lagoon, Benga, Fiji Islands.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Elongate body, with a rounded snout. There are 8–9 dorsal fin
soft rays and 7–8 anal fin soft rays. Color is black, with a yellow
stripe that runs along each flank from the snout to the
base of the caudal fin and a mid-dorsal yellow stripe that joins
the lateral stripes at the snout.
DISTRIBUTION
Western Pacific, from the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan
south to Taiwan, southeast to the Bismarck Archipelago in
Papua New Guinea, and east to Fiji and Christmas Island,
Line Islands (Kiribati). Specimens reported from the Great
Barrier Reef, and possibly the Bismarck Archipelago, represent
an undescribed species.
HABITAT
Lives among the arms of crinoids on coral reefs at a depth
range of 26–66 ft (8–20 m).
BEHAVIOR
Poorly known. Swims about the arms of crinoids.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds upon small invertebrates.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Poorly known but likely lays demersal eggs, perhaps at the
base of a crinoid.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
May be collected infrequently for aquaria.
Photo Gallery of - Crinoid clingfish
