Elacatinus oceanops (lat.) - a species of small marine fish from the family goby ( Gobiidae ), distributed in the coral reefs of the Caribbean from Florida and the Bahamas through the Gulf of Mexico to Belize .
| Elacatinus oceanops |
Elacatinus oceanops over the coral of the Montastraea cavernosa |
| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetric |
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| International Scientific Name |
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Elacatinus oceanops Jordan , 1904 |
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The body is elongated, only 3.5 cm long (maximum length 5 cm). Starting from the eyes, a bright blue stripe runs along the sides of the body to the tail, above and below which black stripes border. The belly is whitish.
Elacatinus oceanops , like other species in the genus Elacatinus , performs the role of cleaning other parasite fish. Fish live in the so-called "cleaning stations" on elevated coral blocks at a depth of 40 meters and live there alone, in pairs or in large groups of up to 30 individuals. They feed on parasitic crustaceans, which are removed from the skin of their "clients". The leading daytime fishes hide at night in their coral shelters. Fish are monogamous.
