Slender Sandgoby, Fusigobius gracilis (Randall 2001)


A Slender Sandgoby, Fusigobius gracilis, at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, February 2019. Source: Anne Hoggett / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
A slender semitransparent goby covered in tiny orange spots with black centres, a pupil-sized black spot on the middle of the caudal-fin base, and a small black spot above the pectoral-fin base. The Slender Sandgoby has the pelvic fins separated, and lacks a pelvic frenum.

Video of a Slender Sandgoby in Japan

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2018, Fusigobius gracilis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/122

Slender Sandgoby, Fusigobius gracilis (Randall 2001)

More Info


Distribution

Recorded in Australia from the Great Barrier Reef - Raine Island to One Tree Island. Elsewhere the species occurs in the West-Pacific. Inhabits sandy-rubble areas near reefs.

Features

Dorsal fin VI + I, 9; Anal fin I, 8; Pectoral fin 17-19; Longitudinal scale series 25; Vertebrae 26. 
Body slender, depth 5.45-5.75 in SL; snout 3.0-3.4 in head length; gill opening extending to below middle of opercle. Head naked except for scales on side of nape reaching nearly to above upper end of preopercular margin; posterior nostril not close to orbit. First dorsal fin not higher than second; second dorsal-fin spine usually longest, 5.35-5.8 in SL. Pelvic fins fully united medially by membrane (when intact); pelvic frenum absent. 

Colour

Body translucent with numerous very small orange-yellow spots with blackish centres on head and body, those on head arranged in oblique rows; a black spot the size of pupil or smaller at midbase of caudal fin; a second smaller blackish spot just above base of pectoral fin; dorsal and caudal fins with orange-yellow spots; a dusky orange line from upper part of first membrane of first dorsal fin to base of second spine.

Species Citation

Coryphopterus gracilis Randall, 2001, Zoological Studies 40(3): 208, fig. 4. Type locality: Sesoko Island, western side, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, depth 15-18 m. 

Author

Bray, D.J. 2018

Resources

Australian Faunal Directory

Slender Sandgoby, Fusigobius gracilis (Randall 2001)

References


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

Randall, J.E. 2001. Five new Indo-Pacific gobiid fishes of the genus Coryphopterus. Zoological Studies 40(3): 206-225. See ref online, open access

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.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37428338

Depth:6-18 m

Habitat:Reef associated, sandy, rubble areas

Max Size:5.3 cm SL

Species Image Gallery

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map