Incredible Clingfish Details in Algeria! - Observation of the Week, 12/13/23

Our Observation of the Week is this Opeatogenys gracilis fish (Porte-écuelle grêle in French), seen in Algeria by @sammykernane!

“When I go to the beach or hiking with friends, I'm always looking for local fauna and flora,” says Sammy Kernane, an 2nd year hydrobiology student living in Oran, Algeria. “And when they see what I do, even my non-naturalist friends start assisting me in my research! Which is very gratifying, because my other goal is to show people the beauty of nature and making them want to know more. This is what I aim for when I publish my pictures on social media.”

Sammy came across the fish you see here while free diving at Mers El Hadjaj, it was sitting in a bed of Caulerpa prolifera algae. He took the photos in a DIY setup, which allows him to get some great detail.

A clingfish, Opeatogenys gracilis’s pectoral fins are fused together to form a suction cup, which it uses to stick to algae and other surfaces. It’s tiny (3 cm/1.2 in long) and is found in the Mediterranean Sea and the Northern Atlantic.

“I was interested in nature from a very young age,” says Sammy (above).

Observing critters, drawing them, learning and writing about their behavior were my main hobbies…I was also a big fan of documentaries ! My dream job was to be an “adventurer” like those we see on National Geographic. Naturally, I was drawn to biology, and more precisely marine biology.

I use inaturalist for identifying the species I encounter, whether by the community or the bot. Algerian databases of such small species are lacking, so I generally use data from neighboring countries. And as a side quest, I'm aiming to climb the observers ranking, haha. Which encourages me to expand my interest to other taxa!

(Photo of Sammy by Adel Kifirofski. Some quote have been edited for clarity.)

- you can follow Sammy on Instagram here!

Posted on December 13, 2023 10:57 PM by