Chasmodes longimaxilla Stretchjaw Blenny

Javonillo, Robert & Harold, Antony S., 2010, A systematic review of the genus Chasmodes (Teleostei: Perciformes: Blenniidae), Zootaxa 2558 (1), pp. 1-16 : 10-11

Chasmodes longimaxilla Stretchjaw Blenny

Chasmodes bosquianus longimaxilla Williams 1983: 72 , 85, fig. 6. Type locality: East end seawalls, rock jetties on northeast side of island, Fort Gaines, Dauphin Island , Alabama. Holotype: USNM 219830 .

Chasmodes longimaxilla Williams 2003: 1770, 1772 .

Material examined. Fifty-five specimens examined, 21.2–86.8 mm SL. Florida: FMNH 57043 (paratypes), 2 (50.2–76.7 mm SL), Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida . CAS-SU 00435 , 5 (48.5–64.7 mm SL), Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida . UMMZ 139186 , 1 (23.9 mm SL), Santa Rosa Sound, approximately 8 km from bridge over Pensacola Bay on U.S. Highway 98, Florida . USNM 005721 (paratype), 1 (55.9 mm SL), Fort Morgan Point , Baldwin County, Alabama . USNM 342666 , 2 (55.8–65.5 mm SL) Fort Morgan Point , Baldwin County, Alabama . UF 31478 (paratype), 1 (58.8 mm SL), Dauphin Island , Mobile County, Alabama . UF 31479 (paratype), 1 (71.6 mm SL), Dauphin Island , Mobile County, Alabama . FMNH 62465 (paratype), 1 (64.6 mm SL), Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs , Jackson County, Mississippi . GCRL 2061 (paratype), 1 (68.8 mm SL), off Round Island , Mississippi Sound, Mississippi . GCRL 2903 (paratype), 1 (54.3 mm SL), Mississippi Sound, Mississippi . USNM 072333 (paratype), 1 (66.1 mm SL), Three Mile Bayou , Mississippi . USNM 121994 (paratypes), 2 (46.6–67.2 mm SL), southeast end of Deer Island , Mississippi . USNM 162591 (paratype), 1 (76.6 mm SL), near Chauvin, Terrebonne Parish , Louisiana . TU 5564 , 1 (76.1 mm SL), Terrebonne Parish , Louisiana . TU 164153, 1 , Plaquemines Parish , Louisiana . TU 164504, 1 (65.7 mm SL), Jefferson Parish , Louisiana . CAS-SU 21377 , 1 (86.8 mm SL), Cameron, Cameron Parish , Louisiana . CAS-SU 21380 , 5 (45.8–56.9 mm SL), Cameron, Cameron Parish , Louisiana . UMMZ 114470 (paratypes), 5 (56.9–70.3 mm SL), Lavaca Bay , Calhoun County, Texas . USNM 069338 (paratypes), 3 (59.5–69.0 mm SL), Matagorda Bay , Texas . UMMZ 111743 (paratypes), 3 (49.6–62.0 mm SL), vicinity of Rockport , Aransas County, Texas . UF 4233 (paratype), 1 (21.2 mm SL), Ransom Island, Redfish Bay , San Patricio County, Texas . ANSP 129692 (paratype), 1 (34.6 mm SL), La Quinta Channel, approximately 3.2 km south-southwest of Ingleside, Ingleside , San Patricio County, Texas . FMNH 40311 (paratypes), 2 (42.6–59.9 mm SL), within 80 km of Corpus Christi , Texas . USNM 156556 (paratypes), 5 (36.6–53.6 mm SL), Hog Island, Corpus Christi , Texas . ANSP 71181-2 (paratypes), 2 (47.6–69.1 mm SL), Flower Bluff, Laguna Madre , Texas . TU 21596 , 1 (42.9 mm SL), West Bay, 3.2 km east of San Luis Pass on Galveston Island , Galveston County, Texas . TU 21665 , 2 (35.2–40.4 mm SL), bay side of Harbor Island, Aransas Bay , Nueces County, Texas . ANSP 145208 , 1 (51.8 mm SL), Flower Bluff, Laguna Madre , Texas .

Diagnosis. Characters, in combination, which serve to distinguish Chasmodes longimaxilla : dentary teeth sharply pointed and recurved; mandibular pores 4–6 (usually 4; Table 2); ventral lip flaps not prominent; upper jaw length 40.0–60.6% of head length; gill rakers 9–12 (usually 11).

Description. Characters presented in generic and species diagnoses and generic description form a part of the species description and are not repeated. Snout somewhat pointed in lateral profile; other salient features similar to those of C. bosquianus . Body proportions are given in Table 3.

Size. Maximum size about 87 mm SL.

Distribution. Chasmodes longimaxilla occurs in coastal waters from Pensacola, Florida, to Veracruz, Veracruz State, Mexico ( Bath 1977). This species is sympatric with C. saburrae from Pensacola to the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, but seems to be allotopically distributed with respect to the latter. In the area of sympatry, Williams (1983) characterized this segregation as “almost exclusive” such that C. saburrae prefers seagrass beds and C. longimaxilla associates more with rocks and shells.

Ecology and life history. The Stretchjaw Blenny typically inhabits seagrass flats, rocky bottoms, and oyster reefs in bays and estuaries. C. longimaxilla has not been reported in rivers or other waters with salinities less than about 10 ‰ ( Williams 1983). The spawning season begins in March and ends in October or early November ( Williams 1983).

Remarks. The name longimaxilla was described as a noun in apposition ( Williams 1983). Williams (1983) mentioned that the original identification and locality data for FMNH 80505 ( C. saburrae from Key Largo, Florida) are probably erroneous. The shape of the teeth, number of mandibular pores, and morphometric characters suggest that the specimen is probably Chasmodes longimaxilla , and therefore unlikely to have been collected at Key Largo. The meristic and morphometric data that we report are consistent with Williams’ (2003) classification. The common name “Stretchjaw Blenny” is used by Nelson et al. (2004), owing to the relative length of the upper jaw.