Dellichthys morelandi Briggs, 1955
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The New Zealand urchin clingfish (Dellichthys morelandi) is a clingfish. It is found around New Zealand wherever sea urchins are present. Its length is between 2 and 3 cm.
This species was described by John C. Briggs in 1955 and was thought to be the sole species in the monotypic genus Dellichthys until 2018 when a new species, Dellichthys trnskii, was described after being discovered from intertidal and shallow coastal waters of New Zealand in that year. Briggs gave the species its specific name in honour of John Munne Moreland (1921-2012) of the Dominion Museum in Wellington.
Wikipedia contributors, New Zealand urchin clingfish; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:29:56.832637+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Dellichthys morelandi Briggs, 1955
- Name authority
- Briggs, 1955
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Gobiesociformes
- Family
- Gobiesocidae
- Genus
- Dellichthys
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderGobiesociformes
- familyGobiesocidae Bleeker, 1859
- subfamilyGobiesocinae Bleeker, 1859
- genusDellichthys Briggs, 1955
- speciesDellichthys morelandi Briggs, 1955
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Dellichthys. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Dellichthys trnskii Conway, Stewart & Summers, 2018 | GobiesocidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Briggs, J. C. (1955). A monograph of the clingfishes (Order Xenopterygii). Stanford Ichthyol. Bull., 6: i–iv + 1–224. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:34GYQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.