Girdled Reefgoby, Priolepis cincta (Regan 1908)


Other Names: Banded Reef Goby, Banded Reef-goby, Convict Goby, Girdled Goby

A Girdled Reefgoby, Priolepis cincta, at Anilao, Batangas, Calabarzon, Philippines, May 2015 (image rotated). Source: Klaus Stiefel / Flickr. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
A reefgoby with alternating dark-edged brown and narrower white bands on the head and body (extending onto the basal parts of the dorsal fins), and brown spots on the dorsal and caudal fins.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2021, Priolepis cincta in Fishes of Australia, accessed 30 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/145

Girdled Reefgoby, Priolepis cincta (Regan 1908)

More Info


Distribution

Houtman Abrolhos to offshore reefs of Western Australia, Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, and the northern Great Barrier Reef and reefs in the Coral Sea, Queensland, to Port Hacking, New South Wales (and possibly further south); also Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific (east to Kiribati).
Inhabits coral and rocky reefs, often found on the ceiling of caves.

Features

Dorsal fin VI-VII + I,11; Anal fin I,9; Longitudinal scale series 27-31.
Body depth 3.8-4.6 in SL; scales ctenoid on body except cycloid on abdomen, prepectoral and prepelvic areas; upper opercle with a patch of cycloid scales; cheek naked.

Biology

Species of the genus Priolepis form monogamous pairs, and are capable of bidirectional sex change. In laboratory experiments with female-female pairs of several species, the larger individual changed sex to male, and in male-male pairs, the smaller changed to female. The gonads of these species simultaneously formed ovarian and testicular portions with an accessory gonadal structure (Manabe et al. 2013; Sunobe & Nakazono 1999). 

Etymology

The specific name is from the Latin cinctum (= bordered, girdled, enclosed, surrounded) in reference to the bands encircling the body of this species.

Species Citation

Gobiomorphus cinctus Regan 1908, Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 2nd Series Zoology 12(3): 240. Type locality: Chagos Archipelago.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2021

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Girdled Reefgoby, Priolepis cincta (Regan 1908)

References


Allen, G.R. 1993. Fishes of Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 44: 67-91

Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Allen, G.R. & Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 1-21

Allen, G.R. & Steene, R.C. 1979. The Fishes of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Aust. Natl. Parks Wldlf. Ser. Spec. Publ. 2. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service 81 pp. 15 pls.

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

urgess, W.E., Axelrod, H.R. & Hunziker III, R.E. 1990. Dr. Burgess's atlas of marine aquarium fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., Neptune City, New Jersey.

Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S.J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Checklist and new records of Christmas Island fishes: the influence of isolation, biogeography and habitat availability on species abundance and community composition. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 184–202

Hobbs, J-P.A., Newman, S .J., Mitsopoulos, G.E.A., Travers, M.J., Skepper, C.L., Gilligan, J.J., Allen, G.R., Choat, H.J. & Ayling, A.M. 2014. Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: new records, community composition and biogeographic significance. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 30: 203–219

Hoese, D.F. & Winterbottom, R. 1979. A new species of Lioteres (Pisces, Gobiidae) from Kwazulu, with a revised checklist of South African gobies and comments on the generic relationships and endemism of western Indian Ocean gobioids. Royal Ontario Museum, Life Sciences Occasional Paper 31: 1-13 (as Quisquilius cinctus)

Hutchins, J.B. 1994. A survey of the nearshore reef fish fauna of Western Australia's west and south coasts — The Leeuwin Province. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 46: 1-66 figs 1-6 

Hutchins, J.B. 1997. Checklist of fishes of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. pp. 239-253 in Wells, F. (ed.) The Marine Fauna and Flora of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum. 

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3) 

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp. 

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.

Kuiter, R. & Kuiter, S. 2018. Coastal sea-fishes of south-eastern Australia. Seaford, Victoria : Aquatic Photographics, 371 pp.

Larson, H. 2019. Priolepis cincta. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T193097A2194695. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T193097A2194695.en. Downloaded on 09 March 2021.

Manabe H, Toyoda K., Nagamoto K., Dewa S.I., et al. 2013. Bidirectional sex change in seven species of Priolepis (Actinopterygii: Gobiidae). Bulletin of Marine Science 89(2): 635-642. https://doi.org/10.5343/bms.2012.1050

Moore, G.I., Morrison, S.M., Hutchins, B.J., Allen, G.R. & Sampey, A. 2014. Kimberley marine biota. Historical data: fishes. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 84: 161-206 

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs. 

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

Regan, C.T. 1908. Report on the marine fishes collected by Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner in the Indian Ocean. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 2nd Series Zoology 12(3): 217-255, pls 23-32 See ref at BHL

Sunobe, T. & Nakazono, A. 1999. Mating system and hermaphroditism in the gobiid fish, Priolepis cincta, at Kagoshima, Japan. Ichthyological Research 46(1): 103-105.

Winterbottom, R. & Burridge, M. 1989. A new species of Priolepis (Pisces: Gobiidae) from the Pacific plate, with biogeographic comments. Canadian Journal of Zoology 67: 2398-2402 figs 1-4 

Winterbottom, R. & Burridge, M. 1993. Revision of the Indo-Pacific Priolepis species possessing a reduced transverse pattern of cheek papillae, and predorsal scales (Teleostei; Gobiidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 71: 2056-2076 figs 1-23

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37428236

Biology:Hermaphrodite

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:1-70 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Max Size:7 cm SL

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CAAB distribution map