Blacklined Glidergoby, Valenciennea helsdingenii (Bleeker 1858)

Other Names: Blacklined Glider Goby, Black-lined Sleeper Goby, Black-lined Sleeper-Goby, Railway Glider, Railway Sleeper Goby, Twostripe Goby

A Blacklined Glidergoby, Valenciennea helsdingenii, at North Stradbroke Island, Queensland. Source: Rick Stuart-Smith / Reef Life Survey. License: CC BY Attribution

Summary:

A pale brownish-grey glidergoby becoming pale greyish to whitish below with two black to reddish or brownish-orange stripes along the head and side that continue to the caudal fin-tips, often a yellow stripe on the head between the dark stripes, and a large black blotch on the first dorsal fin. Adults have two elongate caudal-fin filaments.

Video of a pair of Blacklined Glidergobies filmed at Kashiwajima, Kochi, Japan.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Valenciennea helsdingenii in Fishes of Australia, accessed 27 Jun 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/173

Blacklined Glidergoby, Valenciennea helsdingenii (Bleeker 1858)

More Info

Distribution	Exmouth, Western Australia, and the Northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, and reefs in the Coral Sea, to Jervis Bay, New South Wales; also Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to Indonesia, north to Japan, south to New Caledonia and Northland, New Zealand. Usually seen in pairs over sandy, silty/sand and rubble areas on outer reefs, rocky drop-offs, reef lagoons and in coastal bays. Juveniles usually prefer rocky areas in clear estuaries. Constructs mounded burrows.
Features	Dorsal fin VI + I, 11; Anal fin I, 11; Pectoral fin 21-23; Gill rakers Longitudinal scale count 127-146; Transverse scale count 37-47. Body depth 5.0 in SL. Caudal fin truncate to slightly emarginate, 2.4-5.0 in SL, finray above and below central three rays prolonged as filament in adults. Body scales ctenoid body scales except cycloid on abdomen; head or midline of nape naked; adults with cycloid scales extending forward on side of nape to above middle of operculum; pectoral-fin base and prepelvic area scaled in adults.
Size
Colour	Body with 2 dark stripes, connecting with those on head, and extending onto caudal fin; a large, elongate, black spot (surrounded by white in life) between third and sixth dorsal spines; a dusky to black stripe extending from dorsal-fin spot forward to first dorsal spine (spot more distinct in adults); roof of mouth black well behind tip of vomer in large adults, light brown in juveniles below 50 mm; tongue and floor of mouth white; inner gill cover largely pale, black anteriorly before pseudobranchs in adults over 100mm.
Feeding	Feeds on small invertebrates sifted from mouthfuls of sand.
Biology	Forms monogamous pairs.
Fisheries
Similar Species	Differs from other species in the genus by its unique coloration and the presence of filamentous caudal-fin rays in adults.
Etymology	The species is named in honor of W. F. C. van Helsdingen, who provided Bleeker with a number of well-preserved fishes from the Gorong Archipelago (Indonesia), including type of Valenciennea helsdingenii.
Species Citation	Eleotriodes helsdingenii Bleeker 1858, Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië 15: 212. Type locality: Goram Island, Goram Archipelago [Pulau-Pulau Gorong, Molucca Islands, Indonesia].
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Blacklined Glidergoby, Valenciennea helsdingenii (Bleeker 1858)

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

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

Bleeker, P. 1858. Bijdrage tot de kennis der vischfauna van den Goram-Archipel. Natuurwetenschappelijk Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië 15: 197-218.

Bleeker, P. 1877. Révision des espèces insulindiennes de la famille des Eleotriformes. Verslagen en Mededeelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen (Afdeeling Natuurjunde). Amsterdam 2 11: 13-110 See ref at BHL

Clark, E., Stoll, M.J., Alburn, T.K. & Petzold, R. 2000. Mound-building and feeding behavior of twostripe goby, Valencienna helsdingenii, in the south Red sea. Environmental Biology of Fishes 57: 131–141. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007648611429

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. 1986. Family No. 240: Gobiidae. pp. 774-807 figs in Smith, M.M. & Heemstra, P.C. (eds). Smith's Sea Fishes. Johannesburg : Macmillan South Africa xx + 1047 pp. 144 pls.

Hoese, D.F. & Larson, H.K. 1994. Revision of the Indo-Pacific gobiid fish genus Valenciennea, with descriptions of seven new species. Indo-Pacific Fishes 23: 1-71 11 figs, 6 pls

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.

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

Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. 437 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. & T. Tonozuka. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 3. Jawfishes - Sunfishes, Opistognathidae - Molidae. Zoonetics, Australia. pp. 623-893.

Larson, H. 2016. Valenciennea helsdingenii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T193024A2185632. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T193024A2185632.en. Downloaded on 11 February 2018.

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. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.