blenny

C2 Topic:Animals
US /ˈblɛni/ UK /ˈbleni/
noun Freq #289540

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    a small, usually elongated marine fish of the blenny groups, especially a bottom-dwelling combtooth blenny of the family Blenniidae

    A blenny peered from a narrow crevice in the reef.

  2. 2
    noun

    any of various unrelated fishes with a slender body or blennylike appearance

    The common name blenny is also applied to fishes outside the true blenny family.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a small, usually elongated... combtooth blenny
Word family
Forms Blennies
Derived forms blennioid
Related forms Blenniidaegobyreef fishcombtooth blenny

Etymology

From Latin blennius, from Greek blennos, 'mucus or slime,' referring to the fish's slippery coating. The common name later spread from true blennies to several similarly shaped but unrelated fish groups.

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