Teleostei (teleosts) >
Blenniiformes (Blennies) >
Tripterygiidae (Triplefin blennies) > Tripterygiinae
Etymology: malcolmi: The genus is named after J.R. Forster, naturalist on Cook's second voyage to New Zealand. malcolmi named after Malcolm Francis, collector of the holotype of this species.
Eponymy: Dr Malcolm Philip Francis (d: 1954) is a New Zealand fisheries scientist and marine ecologist who has spent over thirty-nine years studying the population biology of coastal and pelagic fishes. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; demersal; depth range 2 - 35 m (Ref. 13227), usually 10 - 25 m (Ref. 9003). Temperate
Southwest Pacific: endemic to New Zealand.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 12.2 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 13227)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal spines (total): 27 - 32; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12 - 16; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 26 - 30; Vertebrae: 43 - 47. Body elongated, laterally compressed posteriorly; mouth strongly angled upward; notched scales absent; short, distally complex gill rakers, body yellow with a broad, black stripe
extending along upper side of body. Dorsal fin formula V-0N-0-1-0-1. Six procurrent rays in upper lobe, 10 in lower lobe; in upper caudal lobe, one procurrent ray between upper lobe and posterior epural, 4 rays opposite epurals, 1 anterior first epural; in lower lobe, 1 procurrent ray between lower lobe and haemal spine of second preural vertebra, 4 opposite haemal spine of second preural vertebra, 5 anterior to haemal spine of second preural vertebra (Ref. 84085). Head and gill cover olive brown with pale stripes, body with 6 broad reddish vertical bands with irregular white bands between. Anterior bands extending to the dorsal fin (Ref. 9003).
Facultative air-breathing in the genus (Ref. 126274); Adults are abundant on rocky reefs from 10 to 25m, recorded from 2 to 33m (Ref. 84085). They occur in low tide pools and subtidal areas and prefer overhangs and holes containing sponges and bryozoans (Ref. 9003). Juveniles are found in shallow waters, while adults are more abundant in deeper waters. They feed mainly on crustaceans and small gastropods (Ref. 13227). Eggs are hemispherical and covered with numerous sticky threads that anchor them in the algae on the nesting sites (Ref. 240). Larvae are planktonic which occur primarily in shallow, nearshore waters (Ref. 94114).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Fricke, R., 1994. Tripterygiid fishes of Australia, New Zealand and the southwest Pacific Ocean (Teleostei). Theses Zool. 24:1-585. (Ref. 13227)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Tools
Special reports
Download XML
Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 15.5 - 18.1, mean 16.6 °C (based on 10 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5039 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00646 (0.00336 - 0.01242), b=3.09 (2.91 - 3.27), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.4 ±0.54 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 112 [68, 258] mg/100g; Iron = 0.621 [0.373, 1.104] mg/100g; Protein = 18.5 [17.5, 19.5] %; Omega3 = 0.686 [0.368, 1.327] g/100g; Selenium = 9.97 [4.73, 21.02] μg/100g; VitaminA = 15.9 [4.3, 57.7] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.911 [0.619, 1.332] mg/100g (wet weight);
