Cocos Frillgoby, Bathygobius cocosensis (Bleeker 1854)


Other Names: Cocos Frill-goby, Cocos Goby, Dusky Sand-goby, Padang Frill-goby

A Cocos Frillgoby, Bathygobius cocosensis, at South West Rocks, New South Wales, April 2013. Source: Sascha Schultz / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
A mottled brown goby with five irregular alternating pale and dark blotches or saddles along the back, 5-7 rectangular brown blotches along the lower side, and white spots and blotches on cheek and operculum.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2021, Bathygobius cocosensis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/2909

Cocos Frillgoby, Bathygobius cocosensis (Bleeker 1854)

More Info


Distribution

Dirk Hartog Island, Western Australia, to the English Company Island, Northern Territory, and the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, to Green Cape, southern New South Wales; also at Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the Lord Howe Province and Norfolk Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the Indo-Pacific.
Inhabits intertidal reef flats and rock pools, and rocky/rubble and sandy areas adjacent to reefs.

Features

Dorsal fin VII, 9; Anal fin I, 8. 
upper 4-5 pectoral rays branched to base, tips membrane-free; rounded caudal fin; longitudinal scale series 37-38; predorsal scales 10-12, nearly reaching to above rear margin of preopercle; scales absent on cheek and operculum; ctenoid body scales, becoming cycloid on abdomen, breast and nape; depressed head, width greater than depth; depth of body 5.0 in SL

Colour

Mottled brown overall, with five alternating irregular whitish and brown blotches or saddles dorsally on body; lower half of side with 5-7 rectangular brown blotches; white spots and blotches on cheek and operculum.

Feeding

Feeds on benthic invertebrates including polychaete worms, isopod and amphipod crustaceans, and small crabs.

Etymology

The species is named for the type locality: Cocos Island in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, eastern Indian Ocean.

Species Citation

Gobius cocosensis Bleeker 1854, Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië 7: 47. Type locality: Nova Selma, Cocos Island.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2021

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Cocos Frillgoby, Bathygobius cocosensis (Bleeker 1854)

References


Akihito, P. & Meguro, K. 1980. On the six species of the genus Bathygobius found in Japan. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 27(3): 215-236 

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

Allen, G.R. 2000. Fishes of the Montebello Islands. Records of the western Australian Museum Supplement 59: 47-57.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Allen, G.R., Hoese, D.F., Paxton, J.R., Randall, J.E., Russell, B.C., Starck, W.A., Talbot, F.H. & Whitley, G.P. 1976. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Lord Howe Island. Records of the Australian Museum 30(15): 365-454 figs 1-2 (as Bathygobius aeolosoma)

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

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. 

Francis, M. 1993. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. Pacific Science 47(2): 136-170 figs 1-2 

Francis, M. 2019. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4428305

Griffiths, S.P. 2003. Rockpool ichthyofaunas of temperate Australia: species composition, residency and biogeographic patterns. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 58(1): 173-186.

Griffiths, S.P. 2003. Homing behavior of intertidal rockpool fishes in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Austalian Journal of Zoology. 51(4): 387-398 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO02049

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

Hutchins, J.B. 2004. Fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 66: 343–398 

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. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls. 

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

Kuiter, R.H. and Tonozuka, T. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 3: Jawfishes - Sunfishes, Opistognathidae - Molidae. Melbourne : Zoonetics pp. 623–893.

Larson, H. 2019. Bathygobius cocosensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T193179A2205373. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T193179A2205373.en. Accessed on 21 December 2021.

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293 

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

Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. A comprehensive guide to the coral reef fishes of Micronesia. Guam : Coral Graphics vi 330 pp. 192 pls. 

Ogilby, J.D. 1889. The reptiles and fishes of Lord Howe Island. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 2(3): 51-74 pls 2-3 (described from Lord Howe Island as Gobius aeolosoma)

Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.

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. 

Russell, B.C. 1983. Annotated checklist of the coral reef fishes in the Capricorn-Bunker group, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Special Publication Series 1: 1-184 figs 1-2

White, G. E. & Brown, C. 2015. Microhabitat use affects goby (Gobiidae) cue choice in spatial learning task. Journal of Fish Biology. doi: 10.1111/jfb.12638

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37428065

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:0-10 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:12 cm TL

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CAAB distribution map