Actinopterygii (Gigaclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Teleostei (Subclass) > Blenniiformes (Order) > Blennioidei (Suborder) > Blenniidae (Family) > Salariinae (Subfamily) > Stanulus (Genus)

Seychelle's blenny, Himetsumarigimpo, ヒメツマリギンポ, 塞昔尔锡鳚,

Synonymes
Fallacirripectes minutus (Schultz & Chapman, 1960)
Fallacirripectes wellsi (Schultz & Chapman, 1960)

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Description
Dorsal spines (total): 12; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9-11 (usually: 10), deeply notched between spines and rays, and attached by membrane to body in front of caudal fin base; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 10-12 (usually: 11), last ray often split to base, and fin not attached by membrane to peduncle; Pectoral fin rays: 14-15; Pelvic fin rays: 1 spine (embedded, visible only in skeletal preparations), 4 rays (innermost ray reduced, difficult to see); Caudal fin rays: 12-13 (usually: 12), middle 9 rays branched. Vertebrae: 10 ＋ 18-19 ＝ 28-29 (usually: 29). Gill rakers: 8-13. Incisor teeth loosely attached to jaws: 100+ premaxillary teeth, <90 dentary teeth; Recurved canine present at rear on each side of lower jaw, relatively large in males (no canine at rear in upper jaw); Infraorbital bones: 5. Supraorbital cirrus absent; Vomerine teeth absent. Max. length: 4.0 cm TL. Depth range: 1 - 8 m.

Head and body of a pale ground color. Upper lip with several irregular dusky markings. Concentration of melanophores appearing as dark spot on upper portion of opercle. Posterior to eye, head bears two diffuse groups of melanophores in form of indistinct bands separated by pale ground color. Underside of head exhibits pale dusky chevron in form of Y. Arms of Y originate at comers of mouth, extend to midventral side of head, meet and extend posteriorly for short distance (shank of Y ). Another pale mark extends from each opercle ventrally onto ventral side of head. Ground color appears between these marks and those forming arms of Y, thus forming pale chevron (in none of the specimens were the dusky chevrons comparably as dark as they may appear in S. talboti).
Side of body bears scattered diffuse dusky markings. Along midside are five concentrations of melanophores that form spots. First, and palest, spot beneath appressed pectoral fin; Next, much darker, below posterior spinous dorsal; Next, not quite so dark as previous, below third through fifth dorsal rays; Next, about as dark as previous, below last four dorsal rays. Previous two spots appear composed of two coalesced spots. Last, and darkest, spot on caudal peduncle at caudal base. Anteriorly and basally spinous dorsal fin bears dusky band that widens and breaks up into irregular dusky marks posteriorly. Spinous dorsal unmarked anteriorly and dorsally. Segmented-ray portion of dorsal bears irregular, diffusely dusky band at about mid-height of fin, followed distally by unmarked area and another smaller, dusky band. Tips of rays unmarked. Anal fin spines enveloped in unpigmented fleshy rugosities; Urogenital papilla unpigmented. Segmented-ray portion of anal fin generally dusky except anterior tips of rays, which are unmarked. Caudal fin bears about three irregularly diagonal, dusky bands followed posteriorly by broader, vertical, dusky band that covers end of caudal. Pectoral fins unmarked; Fleshy pectoral base dusky proximally, marking extending ventrally onto prepelvic area. Unmarked, crescentic area present just distal to dusky area on pectoral base, followed by narrow dusky crescent just proximal to bases of pectoral rays. Pelvic fins unmarked. 

Etymology
Stanulus: etymology not explained nor evident.
seychellensis: from the type locality + from Latin suffix, –ensis = denoting place.
Original description: Stanulus seychellensis Smith, 1959 - Type locality: la Digue Island, Seychelles, western Indian Ocean.

Distribution
Indo-West Pacific: Comoros, Seychelles, western Mascarenes (La Réunion, Mauritius) and Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory); Caroline Islands, New Ireland (Papua New Guinea) and eastern Australia, east to Marshall Islands and Henderson (Pitcairn Group), north to southern Taiwan, south to New caledonia and Tonga.

Biology
Adults inhabit surge areas of exposed outer reef flats and seaward reefs. Feeds primarily off of plants, including benthic algae and weeds. Oviparous. Eggs are demersal and adhesive, and are attached to the substrate via a filamentous, adhesive pad or pedestal. Larvae are planktonic, often found in shallow, coastal waters. Aquarium fish.

Last update: 12, April 2023