Twospot Sandgoby, Fusigobius duospilus Hoese & Reader 1985


Other Names: Barenape Goby, Twinspot Sandgoby, Twospot Goby

A Twospot Sandgoby, Fusigobius duospilus, on Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia, February 2022. Source: Alex Hoschke / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
A semi-transparent greyish goby with small brownish-orange spots and blotches, two large black spots on the outer part of the first dorsal fin, the first often vertically elongate at the tip of a narrow black vertical line, rows of dark dots on the body, and a dark spot on the middle of the caudal-fin base.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2022, Fusigobius duospilus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/1372

Twospot Sandgoby, Fusigobius duospilus Hoese & Reader 1985

More Info


Distribution

Houtman Abrolhos to offshore islands of north Western Australia, Ashmore Reef and Cartier Reef in the Timor Sea, and the far northern Great Barrier Reef and reefs in the Coral Sea, to the Solitary Islands, New South Wales; also Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the Lord Howe province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in the east-Indo-west-central Pacific. Inhabits sand-rubble areas near reefs.

Features

Dorsal fin VI + I, 9; Anal fin 1, 8; Pectoral fin 17-20; Gill rakers on outer face of first gill arch usually I + 1 + 4-5; lower rakers on outer face of second arch usually 6-7; Longitudinal scale series 22-25; TRB usually 7.

Body depth 4.3-5.8 in SL; gill opening extending to or almost to vertical at posterior edge of opercle. Body with ctenoid body scales except large cycloid scales covering pectoral-fin base and prepelvic area; midline of nape without scales; scales extend no further forward than just above operculum; operculum naked.
First dorsal fin elevated anteriorly, without any filamentous spines, first 3 spines approximately equal in length; first dorsal fin just reaches to second dorsal origin or to first semented dorsal ray, when depressed; pelvic fins nearly fully united to form a disc, thin membrane (easily torn) uniting them to or near to tips of fifth rays; ventral frenum connecting pelvic spines rudimentary; pelvic rays moderately branched, fifth ray usually with 4-6 branches, fourth ray with 4-6 branches in adults, 3-5 in juveniles; caudal fin rounded.

Colour

Two large black spots on first dorsal fin, anterior spot often vertically elongate at tip of a thin black vertical line extending from base of fin, second spot between fifth and sixth dorsal spines; a faint black spot above anterior margin of pectoral base; caudal peduncle with round to triangular spot; a thin vertical brown bar or oval blotch below eye. 

Similar Species

The Twospot Sandgoby differs from the Neophyte Sandgoby,Fusigobius neophytus, in colour pattern and in having a reduced pelvic frenum (vs. a well developed pelvic frenum in F. neophytus), in having the predorsal region less extensively scaled and in reaching a smaller maximum size. F. neophytus has the predorsal scales reaching to near the eye (vs. midline of nape without scales; scales extend no further forward than just above operculum in F. duospilus), and also has an extra lateral canal pore over the preopercle.

Etymology

The specific name duospilus is from Latin and refers to the two dark spots on the first dorsal fin.

Species Citation

Fusigobius duospilus Hoese & Reader, 1985, Special Publication J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 36: 2, figs 1-2. Type locality: Escape Reef, Great Barrier Reef, Australia; 19-22 m.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2022

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Twospot Sandgoby, Fusigobius duospilus Hoese & Reader 1985

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. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.

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.

Gill, A.C. & Reader, S.E. 1992. Fishes. pp. 90-93, 193-228 in Hutchings, P. (ed.). Reef Biology. A Survey of Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, South Pacific. Canberra : Australian National Parks Vol. 3, Kowari 230 pp.

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

Hoese, D.F. & Reader, S. 1985. A new gobiid fish Fusigobius duospilus from the tropical Indo-Pacific. Special Publication J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology 36: 1-9 figs 1-2 http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70180

Hutchins, J.B. 1994. A survey of the nearshore reef fish fauna of Western Australia's west and south coasts — The Leeuwin Province. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 46: 1-66 figs 1-6 

Hutchins, J.B. 1997. Checklist of fishes of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. pp. 239-253 in Wells, F. (ed.) The Marine Fauna and Flora of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. Perth : Western Australian Museum.

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

Munroe, T.A. & Greenfield, D. 2016. Fusigobius duospilus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T193160A2202464. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T193160A2202464.en. Downloaded on 10 January 2019.

Randall, J.E. 1995. Fusigobius Whitley, a junior synonym of the gobiid fish genus Coryphopterus. Bulletin of Marine Science 56(3): 795-798. (as Coryphopterus duospilus)

Randall, J.E. 2001. Five new Indo-Pacific gobiid fishes of the genus Coryphopterus. Zoological Studies 40(3): 206-225. (as Coryphopterus duospilus)

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 (as Fusigobius sp. 3 and Fusigobius DFH sp. 7)

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37428145

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:1-46 m

Habitat:Reef associated, sand-rubble areas

Max Size:5.7 cm TL

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CAAB distribution map