Ecsenius opsifrontalis

Victor G. Springer, 2002, Ecsenius niue, new species of blenniid fish, and new distribution records for other species in the Opsifrontalis species group., Zootaxa 72, pp. 1-6 : 1-3

[[ Ecsenius opsifrontalis species group]]

The synapomorphy that defines the Opsifrontalis species group is the presence on the body (of living or freshly dead specimens) of pinkish to reddish to brownish-orange stripes and/or bands in at least one color-pattern form of each species. These colors may be obscured by blackish stripes, bands, or spots in some species, but a faint “halo” of the color usually surrounds the dark markings.

All the species appear to be residents of coral reefs and usually are restricted to depths of under 20 m, usually under 10 m. None of the species belonging to the Opsifrontalis group is known to occur sympatrically (Figure 1). Although reefless voids separating populations of some species (e.g., E. fourmanoiri Springer ) may be as great as 1,500 km, distances separating the same populations from that of another species in the same group (e.g., E. fijiensis Springer ) may be as little as 85 km (Springer 1988:76-77).