Click on the image to get the high resolution picture. Photos by Andreas Iliopoulos / MCH

Displaying ♂ T. delaisi photos by MCH/Andreas I. Iliopoulos

Original drawing in "Guid d'identification des poissons marins Europe et Mediterranee" by Patrick Louisy

Upper photo: Male, bottom: Female. This female specimen of Tripterygion delaisi, was photographed in the territory of the male fish shown above. Emanuel Gonçalves sent in this remark (July 2005): "The last photo you are displaying as being a female T. delaisi is a goby (Gobius cruentatus)" Many thanks for the comment Gonçalves

Family: TRIPTERYGIIDAE

Length: up to 9 cm

Distribution: eastern Atlantic (from England to Senegal), Madeira, Canary islands, Mediterranean Sea.

Depth: from 0 to 40 meters.

Food: benthic invertebrates and harpacticoids.

General info: They are found in shallow waters, near coasts with rocky substrates, caves and crevices. The males are highly territorial and there is a sexual dimorphism between sexes. Males are colored bright yellow with dark blue – black heads and the fronts of the caudal fins, like the one shown in this photo. The males display themselves, during breeding, swimming in 8 shape. Adapts potentially in captivity.

The specimen is a male in breeding coloration. Photo was taken in about 15 meters in a typical Mediterranean reef near Syros island by G. Rigoutsos (hobbyist scuba diver, member of the Nautical Ecological and Cultural Association of Kini Bay). (Spring 2001)

     Adapts potentially good in captivity and it is a very good addition in typical Mediterranean reef tanks. They grow about 6 cm to 9 cm in length.