Clingfish are a very unique group of marine fish who are so absent from the reef aquarium hobby that we can’t even name one by heart. That’s too bad because new species like Propherallodus longipterus are being discovered and described on a regular basis.
The new clingfish is closely related to Propherallodus briggsi from Japan pictured above, and was found on a shallow reef in the Philippines in less than 15 feet of water. While the new ‘longfin’ clingfish is found in very accessible water, you’ll have to have a keen eye to spot this tiny fish that grows less to an inch long, and likes to curl up even smaller.
With their sucker shaped mouths and rasping teeth, you wouldn’t be far off in describing clingfish as the plecostomus or suckermouth catfish of the ocean. The new longfin clingfish is described by Fujiwara & Motomura in the latest issue of Ichthyological Research.
