Meiacanthus mossambicus Smith, 1959
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
Meiacanthus mossambicus, the Mozambique fangblenny, is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the western Indian Ocean where it is known to occur off the coast of eastern Africa as well as Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. This species grows to a total length of 10 centimetres (3.9 in). It is sold commercially in the aquarium trade.
Wikipedia contributors, Meiacanthus mossambicus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:09:34.394775+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Meiacanthus mossambicus Smith, 1959
- Name authority
- Smith, 1959
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Blenniiformes
- Family
- Blenniidae
- Genus
- Meiacanthus
- 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
- orderBlenniiformes
- familyBlenniidae Rafinesque, 1810
- subfamilyBlenniinae Rafinesque, 1810
- genusMeiacanthus Norman, 1944
- speciesMeiacanthus mossambicus Smith, 1959
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Meiacanthus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Meiacanthus abditus Smith-Vaniz, 1987 | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus atrodorsalis (Günther, 1877) | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus bundoon Smith-Vaniz, 1976 | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus crinitus Smith-Vaniz, 1987 | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus cyanopterus Smith-Vaniz & Allen, 2011 | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus kamoharai Tomiyama, 1956 | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus limbatus Smith-Vaniz, 1987 | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus luteus Smith-Vaniz, 1987 | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus tongaensis Smith-Vaniz, 1987 | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus urostigma Smith-Vaniz, Satapoomin & Allen, 2001 | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus abruptus Smith-Vaniz & Allen, 2011 | BlenniidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Meiacanthus naevius Smith-Vaniz, 1987 | BlenniidaeChordata | 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.
- Smith, J. L. B. (1959). Fishes of the families Blenniidae and Salariidae of the western Indian Ocean. Ichthyological Bulletin, Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University, 14: 229–252, Pls. 14–19. 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:3Z2QD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.