Racing-stripe Snubnose Goby, Pseudogobius rhizophora Larson & Hammer 2021

A male Racing-stripe Snubnose Goby, Pseudogobius rhizophora, in nuptial display, from Channel Island, Darwin Harbour, photographed in an aquarium. Source: Michael Hammer / Northern Territory Museum. License: All rights reserved

Summary:

A small snubnose goby with males having a narrow black mid-lateral line and a dense black rounded spot at the upper caudal-fin base. Females have a broken dark brown mid-lateral line and a less pronounced black spot at the upper base of the caudal fin.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2022, Pseudogobius rhizophora in Fishes of Australia, accessed 19 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/152

Racing-stripe Snubnose Goby, Pseudogobius rhizophora Larson & Hammer 2021

More Info

Distribution	Endemic to northern Australia, from Port Hedland, Western Australia, to Weipa, Gulf of Carpentaria, western Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Inhabits shallow estuarine to marine areas, including mangrove creeks and muddy rocky reefs, at depths of 0–2 m.
Features	A small, strongly sexually dichromatic Pseudogobius with second dorsal-fin rays I,7; anal rays I,6–7; pectoral rays 13–16; 16 segmented caudal rays in 9/7 pattern; lateral scales 25–28; TRB 8–9; predorsal scales 6–8; snout short and slightly pointed; opercle with 3 rows of cycloid scales, cheek naked; shoulder girdle with smooth edge or low angled bony flange; tongue short, tip blunt to bluntly rounded; outer row of teeth in upper jaw slender, slightly curved and pointed (may be slightly flattened).
Remarks	Typically co-occurs with the Northern Snubnose Goby, Pseudogobius aquilonius.
Similar Species	The small size and strong sexual dichromatism of this species, along with the distinctive pattern on the caudal fin, separates both sexes of this species from all other members of the genus Pseudogobius.
Etymology	This species is named rhizophora 'due to its preference for mangrove habitats (and the mangrove Rhizophora stylosa is the mangrove species found over a wide range of conditions in northern Australia).'
Species Citation	Pseudogobius rhizophora Larson & Hammer 2021, Zootaxa 4961(1): 67, Figs. 26-27. Type locality: Nayarnpi Creek, Roper River, Northern Territory, Australia.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2022
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Racing-stripe Snubnose Goby, Pseudogobius rhizophora Larson & Hammer 2021

References

Hammer, M.P., Adams, M., Unmack, P.J., Hassell, K.L. & Bertozzi, T. 2021. Surprising Pseudogobius: Molecular systematics of benthic gobies reveals new insights into estuarine biodiversity (Teleostei: Gobiiformes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 60: 107140, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107140.

Larson, H.K. & Hammer, M.P. 2021. A revision of the gobiid fish genus Pseudogobius (Teleostei, Gobiidae, Tridentigerinae), with description of seven new species from Australia and South-east Asia. Zootaxa 4961(1), https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4961.1.1