Twinbar Goby, Nesogobius greeni Hoese & Larson 2006


A Twinbar Goby, Nesogobius greeni, in Port Phillip, Victoria. Source: Rudie H. Kuiter / Aquatic Photographics. License: All rights reserved

Summary:

Males are mottled brown, greenish or grey, with a dark lower part of the head, 6-8 small dark spots along the midside, a series of pale dashes just below the midline, diagonal stripes on the dorsal fins, and a dark chevron-shaped bar at end of tail base. Females have 1-3 dark vertical bars with white interspaces below the first dorsal fin and blackish pelvic fins.


Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2022, Nesogobius greeni in Fishes of Australia, accessed 30 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/2251

Twinbar Goby, Nesogobius greeni Hoese & Larson 2006

More Info


Distribution

Southern Australia, from Merimbula, New South Wales, to Acraman Creek, Great Australian Bight, South Australia, including around Tasmania.

Usually found on sand areas near seagrass beds and around rocky reefs, from the intertidal zone to a depth of about 8m.

Features

Dorsal fin VII + 8-11; Anal fin 8-10; Caudal fin (segmented rays) 13 (11-12 branched rays); Pectoral fin 16-20; Pelvic fin I,5; Gill rakers 0-1 + 4-9 = 4-8.
Body relatively robust, deep, depth at anal-fin origin subequal to or greater than caudal fin length; head broader than deep; eyes almost touching; head pores absent; mouth small; gill opening wide, reaching forward to below or slightly before posterior preopercular margin. 
Head with scales reaching to above preoperculum, sometimes almost to eye; dorsal mid-line of nape naked or rarely with a single scale just before first dorsal fin, but scales often present just to side of midline; body scales ctenoid, in 25–30 rows; midline of belly without scales or with a few scales posteriorly; pectoral base usually without scales or with 1 or 2 cycloid scales ventrally; area before pelvic fin with cycloid scales.

First dorsal fin low, with rounded or triangular shaped margin, fin taller in males than females; spines absent from second dorsal and anal fins.

Size

To 4.5 cm TL.

Colour

Brown, green, or dark grey; lower surface of head often dark grey to black; irregular diffuse dark brown blotch from eye to middle of jaw and vertically elongate blotch below eye; body with 6–8 small dark brown to black spots on midside; dorsal midline often with black blotches above each midside spot; white dashes just below midside; rear end of caudal peduncle and caudal-fin base with chevron-shaped mark, sometimes broken into 2–3 spots at apices of triangle; females with 1–3 dark brown vertical bars with white interspaces below first dorsal fin; body with scattered mottling, often in irregularly-shaped longitudinal lines; first dorsal fin with 2 black irregular oblique bands and orange interspaces; second dorsal fin with irregular oblique orange to brown stripes; anal fin grey; caudal fin clear to grey; pectoral and pelvic fins clear to white in males; pelvic fin almost black in females; pectoral-fin base with elongate brown spot dorsally.

Similar Species

Similar to Nesogobius pulchellus in coloration and in having a deep body. Both species are often collected together at the same station. Nesogobius greeni differs from N. pulchellus in lacking second dorsal and anal-fin spines (present in N. pulchellus), and in having the low first dorsal fin subequal in height to the second dorsal fin (versus first dorsal fin usually taller than second dorsal fin).

Etymology

Named for R.H. Green formerly of the Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston, Tasmania, who collected much of the material used in the description of Nesogobius greeni.

Species Citation

Nesogobius greeni Hoese & Larson 2006, Mem. Mus. Vict. 63(1): 8, figs 1-4. Type locality: Richards Point, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2022

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Twinbar Goby, Nesogobius greeni Hoese & Larson 2006

References


Hammer, M.P., Hoese, D.F. & Bertozzi, T. 2015. A new species of near-shore marine goby (Pisces: Gobiidae: Nesogobius) from Kangaroo Island, Australia. Zootaxa 4057(3): 371-384, https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4057.3.4

Hoese, D.F. & Larson, H.K. 1994. Family Gobiidae. pp. 781-810, figs 690-714 in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H (eds). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs. (as Nesogobius sp. 3)

Hoese, D.F. & Larson, H.K. 2006. Description of two new species of Nesogobius (Pisces: Gobioidei: Gobiidae) from southern Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 63(1): 7-13 http://doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.2006.63.2

Hoese, D.F. & Larson, H.K. 2008. Family Gobiidae. pp. 749-773 in Gomon. M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H (eds). Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp.

Last, P.R., Scott, E.O.G. & Talbot, F.H. 1983. Fishes of Tasmania. Hobart : Tasmanian Fisheries Development Authority 563 pp. figs. (as Nesogobius sp. 2)

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37428196

Depth:0-8 m

Habitat:Reef associated, sandy/seagrass areas

Max weight:4.5 cm TL

Native:Endemic

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