New Zealand Urchin Clingfish (Dellichthys morelandi) lives in sea urchin habitats across New Zealand. It feeds on unknown. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the New Zealand Urchin Clingfish
- A fish no bigger than a thumbnail, just 2 to 3 cm long, makes its home clinging to sea urchins along New Zealand’s coast, showing how life can thrive in the tiniest of niches.
- John C. Briggs first described the New Zealand urchin clingfish in 1955, assigning it to its own genus, Dellichthys, a reminder that even tiny creatures can launch whole new branches on the tree of life.
- The species name honors John Munne Moreland (1921-2012) of Wellington’s Dominion Museum, linking a modest 2-to-3 cm fish to a legacy of New Zealand natural history.
- For over sixty years Dellichthys was thought to contain only this single species, until researchers uncovered a second, Dellichthys trnskii, in intertidal and shallow coastal waters in 2018, proving that even well-studied groups can still hide surprises.
- Because the clingfish appears wherever sea urchins are found, its distribution matches that of sea urchins in New Zealand.
At a glance
RangeNew Zealand
Habitatsea urchin habitats
Dietunknown
About the New Zealand Urchin Clingfish
The New Zealand urchin clingfish, Dellichthys morelandi, measures 2 to 3 cm in length and is found around New Zealand wherever sea urchins are present. It was first described by John C. Briggs in 1955, with its specific name honoring John Munne Moreland (1921-2012) of the Dominion Museum in Wellington, and it remained the sole species in the monotypic genus Dellichthys until a second species was described in 2018.
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