Author: (Brünnich, 1768)
Parablennius tentacularis (Brünnich, 1768)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Parablennius tentacularis (Brünnich, 1768) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: dorsal finrays XII + 20 21; anal finrays Il + 22-23; pectoral finrays 14; pelvic finrays I + 3. Colour: basically brownish, dark bars or large and small spots on body and black spot at beginning of dorsal fin. Males with very large orbital tentacles; when spawning, with bulb glands on spiny anal finrays. Size: to 15 cm.
Habitat: sand bottoms with boulders and light vegetation, from 3 to 15 m. Behaviour: hiding in crevices. Food: no data. Reproduction. March-May. Several females spawn in hole of resident male which guards the eggs.
Distribution: Mediterranean, Black Sea, Atlantic coast from Spain to Senegal and the Canaries.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Cipria, 1938: 1-12, pl. 1(8 fig.) | Padoa, 1956: 738-740, fig. 638-641, pl. 43 (fig. 11-12).
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.