Norfolkia thomasi Whitley, 1964
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
Thomas' triplefin (Norfolkia thomasi) is a species of triplefin blenny in the genus Norfolkia. It was described by Gilbert Percy Whitley in 1964, naming it in honour of Leonard Rees Thomas who organised the Australian Museum's 1962 Swain Reefs Expedition. The hemispherical eggs of the Thomas' triplefin are covered in sticky threads that help anchor them in the algae on their nesting sites. This adaptation helps ensure the safety of the eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the larvae that emerge are planktonic and stick to shallow waters near the shore. The matured Thomas' triplefin then ventures out into the coral reef and intertidal pools. This species is found in the western Pacific Ocean from the Ryukyu Islands to the Tuamoto Archipelago, in Australia it is distributed from the northern Great Barrier Reef south to Byron Bay, New South Wales.
Wikipedia contributors, Thomas' triplefin; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T23:21:11.814213+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Norfolkia thomasi Whitley, 1964
- Name authority
- Whitley, 1964
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Blenniiformes
- Family
- Tripterygiidae
- Genus
- Norfolkia
- 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
- familyTripterygiidae Whitley, 1931
- subfamilyTripterygiinae Whitley, 1931
- genusNorfolkia Fowler, 1953
- speciesNorfolkia thomasi Whitley, 1964
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Norfolkia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Norfolkia squamiceps (McCulloch & Waite, 1916) | TripterygiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Norfolkia brachylepis (Schultz, 1960) | TripterygiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Norfolkia leeuwin Fricke, 1994 | TripterygiidaeChordata | 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.
- Whitley, G. P. (1964). Fishes from the Coral Sea and the Swain Reefs. Records of the Australian Museum, 26 (5): 145–195, Pls. 8–10. https://doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.26.1964.673 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:47QBQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.