ABSTRACT
The Blenniidae comprises 57 genera and 387 species (Table 1.3.1) of small benthic fishes. The family is distributed worldwide, with most species occurring in shallow coastal, tropical and warm temperate marine waters, along with a few species known from fresh and/or brackish water. Despite being relatively well-known taxonomically, the phylogenetic relationships of the blenniids with the other five families of blennioids are poorly known (Hastings and Springer, Chapter 1.1). The Blenniidae has been the most studied among any of the blennioid families, in part because it is by far the most speciose, but also because it is distributed widely, specimens can be easily collected, and the species occur in a variety of habitats: rocky intertidal, coral reefs, mangroves, oyster beds and in the lower reaches of most rivers. Six putative lineages have been identified within the
Table 1.3.1 Currently recognised tribes and genera of the Blenniidae in a classification. Numbers in parentheses ( ) indicate number of valid species in each genus. Numbers in brackets [ ] indicate number of valid genera/valid species in higher taxonomic categories. * = allied with the Salariini by Bath (2001).
