Cortez Barnacle Blenny

This species is distinguished from its congeners in the Pacific, excluding its closest relatives, A. macrospilus and A. mangognatha, by having a single row of large brown blotches along its lateral midline and head spines that are pointed (vs. club-like or ridge-like). It differs from the 2 latter species by having a dark swath of melanophores on the dorsal fin in both males and females that highlights the bright orange coloration on that fin; presence of scattered melanophores reaching the tip of the lower jaw; and expression of orange as the primary bright head color. This species is further distinguishable from A. macrospilus by the 71 fixed mutations in COI and 20 fixed mutations in the D-loop region of its mitochondrial genome (Ref, 84469).

Dorsal spines (total): 2325; Dorsal soft rays (total): 1214; Analspines: 2; Vertebrae: 42 - 44

The Cortez barnacle blenny (Acanthemblemaria hastingsi) is a species of chaenopsid blenny found in the Gulf of California, in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Males can reach a maximum length of 5.1 cm (2.0 in) SL, while females can reach a maximum length of 4 cm (1.6 in). The specific name honours the marine biologist Philip A. Hastings of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.