Starry Goby, Asterropteryx semipunctata Rüppell 1830

Other Names: Star-finned Gudgeon

A Starry Goby, Asterropteryx semipunctatus, at South West Rocks, New South Wales, April 2013. Source: Sascha Schultz / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A small tan to blackish goby with irregular rows of pale bright bluish spots, small elongate dark spots on the midside and short vertical bars or saddles on the upper side.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2019, Asterropteryx semipunctata in Fishes of Australia, accessed 24 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1307

Starry Goby, Asterropteryx semipunctata Rüppell 1830

More Info

Distribution	Houtman Abrolhos to North Reef and Rowley Shoals, Western Australia, Ashmore Reef, Timor Sea, and the far northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, to Sydney, New South Wales; also Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Eastern Indian Ocean. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical Indo-Pacific. Inhabits sandy/rubble areas in shallow protected bays, coral reefs, lagoons and tidal estuaries.
Features	Dorsal fin VI + I, 9-11; Anal fin I, 8-9; Pectoral fin 16-17; Longitudinal scale series 23-25. Body relatively short, compressed, body depth 3.0-3.6 in SL. Head compressed; head scaled except snout and interorbital space; 3-9 close-set spines on edge of preopercle just above angle. Sensory canals and pores present on head; cheek with distinct transverse pattern of sensory-papillae rows; a pair of short longitudinal rows of sensory papillae just behind chin. Scales mostly ctenoid; pectoral-fin base and breast with cycloid scales; anterior part of cheek and branchiostegal membrane with cycloid scales; posterior part of cheek and operculum with ctenoid scales. Third dorsal-fin spine elongate, filamentous in adults; caudal fin rounded; pelvic fins almost separated, pelvic frenum absent.
Species Citation	Asterropteryx semipunctatus Rüppell, 1830, Fische des Rothen Meeres 3: 138, pl. 34, fig. 4. Type locality: Red Sea.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2019
Resources	Australian Faunal Directory

Starry Goby, Asterropteryx semipunctata Rüppell 1830

References

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

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Allen, G.R. & W.F. Smith-Vaniz. 1994. Fishes of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Res. Bull. 412: 21 p.

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Cole, K.S. 1990. Patterns of gonad structure in hermaphroditic gobies (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Environ. Biol. Fish. 28: 125-142.

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Koumans, F.P. 1953. The Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Gobioidea. Leiden : Brill Vol. 10 423 pp. 95 figs. (as Eleotris cyanostigma)

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.

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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.

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Rüppell, W.P.E. 1830. Atlas zu der Reise im nördlichen Afrika. Fische des Rothen Meeres. 3. Frankfurt : H.L. Brünner 95-141 pls 25-35.

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.

Whitley, G.P. 1932. Fishes. Scientific Reports of the Great Barrier Reef Expedition 1928-1929 4(9): 267-316 figs 1-5 pls 1-4 (as Asterropterix semipunctatus quisqualis)