Animalia Life

Diademichthys lineatus
FAMILY
Gobiesocidae
TAXONOMY
Diademichthys lineatus Sauvage, 1883, New Caledonia.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
None known.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Elongate and slender body, with spatulate snout and small fins. There are 13–15 dorsal fin soft rays, 12–14 anal fin soft rays, and 25–26 pectoral fin soft rays. Color is reddish or reddish brown, with paired yellow stripes and a yellow blotch on the caudal peduncle that extends to the caudal fin. Grows to 1.9 in (5 cm) in length.
DISTRIBUTION
From Oman and Mauritius in the western Indian Ocean east to Indonesia and Fiji, north to southern Japan, and south to northern Australia.
HABITAT
Inhabits shallow coral reefs among the long-spined sea urchins and branching corals, usually in holes or protected areas.
BEHAVIOR
This clingfish swims, often in a dancing or undulating motion, between the spines of sea urchins, within coral heads, and in holes or small caves where sea urchins might be found. Their
BEHAVIOR
is not known in any great detail and remains to be studied.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Takes burrowing bivalves on corals, eggs of shrimp commensal with sea urchins, and the tube feet of sea urchin hosts. Juveniles feed on the pedicellariae and sphaeridia of host urchins and on copepods and the eggs of shrimp that are commensal with sea urchins.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
This species probably courts and spawns in a manner similar to that of others in its
FAMILY
, except that courtship bouts most likely take place in the water column. The eggs are small and demersal, and the larvae are pelagic.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN. May be at risk from the loss of sea urchins because of overfishing, disease, or other factors and from habitats destruction and the effects of pollution on reefs.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
May be collected for the aquarium trade.

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