RESEARCH ARTICLE

Ecsenius markalleni, a new species of coral blenny (Teleostei: Blenniidae) from the eastern Indo-west Pacific Ocean

David W. Greenfield, Mark V. Erdmann & Shang-Yin Vanson Liu

Ecsenius markalleni, n. sp. is described from 28 specimens, 19.7-64.7 mm SL, collected from northwestern Australia, Taiwan, and Japan. It is also reported on the basis of underwater photographs, non-type specimens, and previously authenticated records from the Andaman Islands, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The new coral blenny is a member of the Lineatus Group of Ecsenius, which until now contained only the single species, E. lineatus. The group is distinguished by the color pattern consisting of either a solid, dark, upper mid-lateral band across the upper body, sometimes broken into a series of dark segments, extending as a dark postorbital band onto the head; a deeply notched dorsal fin; 16-18 segmented dorsal-fin rays; 18-20 segmented anal-fin rays; and 34-36 vertebrae. The new species differs from its sister species E. lineatus, found in the central and southwestern Indian Ocean, by color patterns of both adults and juveniles. The adult of E. markalleni is best distinguished from E. lineatus by the having the dark lateral band typically uninterrupted vs. the band broken into distinct segments in E. lineatus. Juveniles of E. markalleni show the adult color pattern while juvenile E. lineatus are mostly similar to adults but have a greyish anterior half of the body and a yellowish rear body. The two allopatric species also diverge by 4.1% in the mtDNA COI barcode sequence.

CITATION:

Greenfield D.W., Erdmann, M.V. & Liu, S.-Y. V. (2026) Ecsenius markalleni, a new species of coral blenny (Teleostei: Blenniidae) from the eastern Indo-west Pacific Ocean. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation, 46, 111-128.

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20766698

publication date: 19 June 2026