WoRMS taxon details
Aspidontus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834
219242 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:219242)
accepted
Species
Aspidontus filamentosus (Valenciennes, 1836) · unaccepted
Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 · unaccepted (synonym)
Aspidontus taeniatus tractus Fowler, 1903 · unaccepted (synonym)
Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903 · unaccepted
Aspinodontus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 · unaccepted > misspelling - incorrect subsequent spelling
Blennechis filamentosus Valenciennes, 1836 · unaccepted
Petrocirtes taeniatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834) · unaccepted (misspelling)
- Subspecies Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 accepted as Aspidontus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 (synonym)
- Subspecies Aspidontus taeniatus tractus Fowler, 1903 accepted as Aspidontus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834 (synonym)
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
Quoy, J. R. C.; Gaimard, J. P. (1834). Poissons. <em>In: Voyage de découvertes de "l'Astrolabe," exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826-29, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville. Paris. Zoologie.</em> Vol. 3 (Pt 2): 645-720, pls 1-4, 7, 10-12, 14-15, 19-20 [Plates in Atlas Zoologie (v. 1). pl. 5 mentioned in the text but not included in the Atlas]. [details]
Description An amazing mimic of the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus, not only in colour but behaviour. There is a dual basis to the...
Description An amazing mimic of the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus, not only in colour but behaviour. There is a dual basis to the mimicry: the blenny avoids predation in its guise of the wrasse (which is protected because it removes ectoparasites from other fishes) and it gets closer to its prey. It feeds in part by tearing pieces from the fins of other fishes<307>. [details]
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2026). FishBase. Aspidontus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=219242 on 2026-03-25
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Nomenclature
original description
Quoy, J. R. C.; Gaimard, J. P. (1834). Poissons. <em>In: Voyage de découvertes de "l'Astrolabe," exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826-29, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville. Paris. Zoologie.</em> Vol. 3 (Pt 2): 645-720, pls 1-4, 7, 10-12, 14-15, 19-20 [Plates in Atlas Zoologie (v. 1). pl. 5 mentioned in the text but not included in the Atlas]. [details]
original description (of Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903) Fowler, H. W. (1903). Descriptions of several fishes from Zanzibar Island, two of which are new. <em>Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.</em> v. 55: 161-176, Pls. 6-8. [details]
original description (of Blennechis filamentosus Valenciennes, 1836) Cuvier, G.; Valenciennes, A. (1836). Histoire naturelle des poissons. <em>Tome onzième. Livre treizième. De la famille des Mugiloïdes. Livre quatorzième. De la famille des Gobioïdes.</em> v. 11: i-xx + 1-506 + 2 pp., Pls. 307-343. [details]
basis of record Randall, J. E. (1992). Red Sea Reef Fishes. <em>Immel Publishing.</em> [details]
original description (of Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903) Fowler, H. W. (1903). Descriptions of several fishes from Zanzibar Island, two of which are new. <em>Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.</em> v. 55: 161-176, Pls. 6-8. [details]
original description (of Blennechis filamentosus Valenciennes, 1836) Cuvier, G.; Valenciennes, A. (1836). Histoire naturelle des poissons. <em>Tome onzième. Livre treizième. De la famille des Mugiloïdes. Livre quatorzième. De la famille des Gobioïdes.</em> v. 11: i-xx + 1-506 + 2 pp., Pls. 307-343. [details]
basis of record Randall, J. E. (1992). Red Sea Reef Fishes. <em>Immel Publishing.</em> [details]
Ecology
ecology source
Looby, A.; Erbe, C.; Bravo, S.; Cox, K.; Davies, H. L.; Di Iorio, L.; Jézéquel, Y.; Juanes, F.; Martin, C. W.; Mooney, T. A.; Radford, C.; Reynolds, L. K.; Rice, A. N.; Riera, A.; Rountree, R.; Spriel, B.; Stanley, J.; Vela, S.; Parsons, M. J. G. (2023). Global inventory of species categorized by known underwater sonifery. <em>Scientific Data.</em> 10(1). (look up in IMIS), available online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02745-4 [details] 
Other
additional source
Liu, J.Y. [Ruiyu] (ed.). (2008). [Checklist of marine biota of China seas]. <em>China Science Press.</em> 1267 pp. (look up in IMIS) [details] Available for editors 
[request]
additional source Froese, R. & D. Pauly (Editors). (2026). FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. version (04/2025)., available online at https://www.fishbase.org [details]
[request]additional source Froese, R. & D. Pauly (Editors). (2026). FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. version (04/2025)., available online at https://www.fishbase.org [details]
Present Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio Inaccurate Introduced: alien Containing type locality
Unreviewed
Description An amazing mimic of the cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus, not only in colour but behaviour. There is a dual basis to the mimicry: the blenny avoids predation in its guise of the wrasse (which is protected because it removes ectoparasites from other fishes) and it gets closer to its prey. It feeds in part by tearing pieces from the fins of other fishes<307>. [details]Remark Blennechis filamentosus is a synonym based on the prejuvenile stage<307> [details]
| Language | Name | |
|---|---|---|
| English | mimic blennyfalse cleanerfish [from synonym] | [details] |
| Japanese | ニセクロスジギンポ [from synonym] | [details] |
To Barcode of Life (1 barcode) (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To Barcode of Life (19 barcodes)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (1 publication) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (17 publications) (from synonym Blennechis filamentosus Valenciennes, 1836)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (2 publications) (from synonym Aspidontus filamentosus (Valenciennes, 1836))
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (21 publications)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (3 publications) (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To Biological Information System for Marine Life (BISMaL) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To Digital Atlas Of Marine Species & Locations, DAMSL (False Cleanerfish)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Aspidontus taeniatus)
To FishBase (from synonym Blennechis filamentosus Valenciennes, 1836)
To FishBase (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To FishBase (from synonym Petrocirtes taeniatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834))
To FishBase (from synonym Aspidontus filamentosus (Valenciennes, 1836))
To FishBase (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To FishBase (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To FishBase
To GenBank (1 nucleotides; 0 proteins) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To GenBank (28 nucleotides; 25 proteins)
To IUCN Red List (Least Concern)
To IUCN Red List (Least Concern) (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatusRAD106784-001) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatusRAD106784-001) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus taeniatus USNM 409189 photograph lateral view)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus taeniatus USNM 409195 photograph lateral view)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus tractus FIN026838B Slide 120 mm) (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus tractus FIN026841 Slide 120 mm) (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To ITIS
To Barcode of Life (19 barcodes)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (1 publication) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (17 publications) (from synonym Blennechis filamentosus Valenciennes, 1836)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (2 publications) (from synonym Aspidontus filamentosus (Valenciennes, 1836))
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (21 publications)
To Biodiversity Heritage Library (3 publications) (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To Biological Information System for Marine Life (BISMaL) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To Digital Atlas Of Marine Species & Locations, DAMSL (False Cleanerfish)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To European Nucleotide Archive, ENA (Aspidontus taeniatus)
To FishBase (from synonym Blennechis filamentosus Valenciennes, 1836)
To FishBase (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To FishBase (from synonym Petrocirtes taeniatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1834))
To FishBase (from synonym Aspidontus filamentosus (Valenciennes, 1836))
To FishBase (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To FishBase (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To FishBase
To GenBank (1 nucleotides; 0 proteins) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To GenBank (28 nucleotides; 25 proteins)
To IUCN Red List (Least Concern)
To IUCN Red List (Least Concern) (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatusRAD106784-001) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatusRAD106784-001) (from synonym Aspidontus taeniatus taeniatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1834)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus taeniatus USNM 409189 photograph lateral view)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus taeniatus USNM 409195 photograph lateral view)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus tractus FIN026838B Slide 120 mm) (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To NMNH Extant Collection (Aspidontus tractus FIN026841 Slide 120 mm) (from synonym Aspidontus tractus Fowler, 1903)
To ITIS
