Blennodesmus scapularis Günther, 1872
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 ocellate eel blenny (Blennodesmus scapularis) is a species of ray-finned fish from the subfamily Congrogadidae, which is in the family Pseudochromidae. It is the only species in the monospecific genus Blennodesmus. It is found along the northern coasts of Australia, from Western Australia, along the coast of the Northern Territory to Queensland. The ocellate eel blenny is found among coral rubble and occurs in intertidal pools up to a depth of 3 metres (9.8 ft) where it feeds mostly on crustaceans. Like other species of Congrogadid the ocellate eel blenny has eggs covered in hooks, cross shaped hooks in this species. This species has an extremely elongated body, its gill membranes are joineded to the isthmus ventrally. It has one, short lateral line which runs from its shoulder to underneath the front part of the dorsal fin. The body is dark brown in colour with mottled with paler markings and it has a black eyespot, smaller than its eye, located above the opercle. It grows to a maximum length of 8.9 centimetres (3.5 in) standard length.
Wikipedia contributors, Ocellate eel blenny; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:10:57.263984+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Blennodesmus scapularis Günther, 1872
- Name authority
- Günther, 1872
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Family
- Pseudochromidae
- Genus
- Blennodesmus
- 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
- familyPseudochromidae Müller & Troschel, 1849
- subfamilyCongrogadinae Günther, 1862
- genusBlennodesmus Günther, 1872
- speciesBlennodesmus scapularis Günther, 1872
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
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.
- Günther, A. (1872). Report on several collections of fishes recently obtained for the British Museum. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1871, (pt 3) (art. 1) : 652–675, Pls. 53–70. 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:5WLP4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.