Painted greenling

The painted greenling (Oxylebius pictus) is a marine fish native to the northeast Pacific Ocean. Its range is from Kodiak Island, Alaska to central Baja California.[1] It can reach a total size of 25 cm (10 in) and has seven vertical dark bands. It inhabits rocky areas shallower than 50 m (160 ft).[1] Specimens (mainly juveniles) sometimes gain protection from larger predators by living among the tentacles of Cribrinopsis albopunctata or Urticina piscivora sea anemones, which are venomous to other animals but do not harm the painted greenling.[2][3]

Painted greenling
Two painted greenlings (one dark and one pale) at Scripps Canyon, La Jolla, California
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Oxylebius

Species:
O. pictus
Binomial name
Oxylebius pictus

The painted greenling feeds on crustaceans, polychaetes, small molluscs and bryozoans.[1]

Taken in the Northern Channel Islands, California

References

  1. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Oxylebius pictus" in FishBase. February 2006 version.
  2. Fretwell, K.; and B. Starzomski (2014). Painted greenling. Biodiversity of the Central Coast. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  3. Cowles, D. (2005). Urticina piscivora (Sebens and Laakso, 1977). Archived 2014-12-31 at the Wayback Machine Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  • "Oxylebius pictus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 18 April 2006.
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