Author: (Risso, 1810)
Tripterygion tripteronotus (Risso, 1810)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Tripterygion tripteronotus (Risso, 1810) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: dorsal finrays III + XV-XVIII + 11-13; anal finrays 11 + 23-26. Colour. females and non-territorial males bright grey with 5 broad, dark, vertical bars. Territorial males with black heads, red bodies and prolonged rays in second dorsal fin. Size: to 80 mm, usually 60-70 mm.
Habitat: bottom-living on shallow rocky shores to 6 m, preferably between O and 3 m; in light-exposed and shadowy biotopes. Behaviour: males court by figure-8-swimming on bottom. Homing ability after released 200 m away from territories. Food: benthic invertebrates, especially harpacticoids and anisopods. Reproduction: May-July (northern Mediterranean). Eggs are laid by several females on substrate in males' territory; male guards the eggs.
Distribution: Mediterranean and Black Sea.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Padoa, 1956: 746, fig. 648a-c, pl. XLIII (fig. 17-24).
Otoliths (sagitta). Chaine, 1956: 258, pl. VI.