Onespot Wormfish, Gunnellichthys monostigma Smith 1958


Other Names: Black-spot Worm Goby, Worm Goby

A Onespot Wormfish, Gunnellichthys monostigma, at Marsa el Mukabeila, Sinai, Egypt. Source: John E. Randall / Fishbase via EOL. License: CC BY Attribution-Noncommercial

Summary:
A pale greyish wormfish with a small black spot on the rear of the gill cover, an iridescent blue stripe near the top of the head, and sometimes a pale yellow to yellowish-orange stripe along the side.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2016, Gunnellichthys monostigma in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4184

Onespot Wormfish, Gunnellichthys monostigma Smith 1958

More Info


Distribution

Monte Bello Islands, Western Australia, and the northern Great Barrier Reef and reefs in the Coral Sea, to One Tree Island, Queensland; also Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific - East Africa to the Marquesas and Society Islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands, and south to Australia. 

Individuals or pairs inhabit sandy-rubble areas in lagoons and sheltered reefs, hovering just above the bottom.

Feeding

Feeds on small benthic and pelagic crustaceans.

Species Citation

Gunnellichthys monostigma Smith 1958, Ichthyol. Bull, Rhodes Univ. 9: 127, fig. 2E. Type locality: Pinda, Mozambique. 

Author

Bray, D.J. 2016

Resources

Australian Faunal Directory

Onespot Wormfish, Gunnellichthys monostigma Smith 1958

References


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

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

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

Allen, G.R. & Steene, R.C. 1979. The Fishes of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. Aust. Natl. Parks Wldlf. Ser. Spec. Publ. 2. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service 81 pp. 15 pls.

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.  

Greenfield, D. & Munroe, T.A. 2016. Gunnellichthys monostigma. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T69128289A69130378. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T69128289A69130378.en. Downloaded on 08 January 2017.

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. 

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp. 

Kuiter R.H. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Indonesian Reef Fishes. Part 3. Jawfishes - Sunfishes, Opistognathidae - Molidae. Melbourne : Zoonetics pp. 623–893.

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.

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 

Smith, J.L.B. 1958. The gunnellichthid fishes with description of two new species from East Africa and of Gunnellichthys (Clarkichthys) bilineatus (Clark) 1936. Ichthyological Bulletin, Department of Ichthyology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 9: 123-129 figs 1-2

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37435004

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:1-20 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated, sandy areas

Max Size:15 cm SL

Species Image Gallery

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map