Protemblemaria perla, a new species of tube blenny (Perciformes: Chaenopsidae) from the tropical eastern Pacific.
Protemblemaria perla, from Isla del Rey, Islas Perlas, Panama, is distinctive in having a long unbranched cirrus on the posterior nostril, a U-shaped fleshy ridge bearing fleshy flaps and a pair of papillae on the nape, a relatively high number (18) of segmented dorsal-fin rays, and small rust-colored spots on the dorsal fin. Protemblemaria perla and P. punctata, from the southern Caribbean, share several morphological features and form a transisthmian species pair. Although the degree of color variation is unknown in P. perla, color varies greatly in P. bicirris and P. punctata, both of which have an orange morph.
Hastings
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Scripps Institution of Oceanography-0208, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0208, USA. phastings@ucsd.edu
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D010176:Panama; D010473:Perciformes / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D012880:Skin Pigmentation