- Classification
- ACTINOPTERYGII
- PERCIFORMES
- GOBIIDAE
- Trimma
- benjamini
Ringeye Pygmygoby, Trimma benjamini Winterbottom 1996

A Ringeye Pygmygoby, Trimma benjamini, on Ribbon Reef #3, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, October 2023. Source: Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist.org. License: CC by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Ringeye Pygmygoby, Trimma benjamini Winterbottom 1996
More Info
Distribution |
Off Mangrove Bay, North West Cape, and Rowley Shoals, Western Australia, also Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea, and the northern Great Barrier Reef and reefs in the Coral Sea, to Lady Elliot Island, Queensland. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific. Inhabits coastal and outer reef slopes, especially drop-offs - resting on coral, or often swimming vertically or upside down under ledges or near the roof of caves. |
Features |
Dorsal fin VI, 9-10 (second spine longest, usually filamentous); Anal fin I,8-10 Pectoral fin 18-19 (branched rays 6-13); Longitudinal scale series 23-25. Body depth ~4.1 in SL; interorbital space deeply concave, ‘U’-shaped, about half pupil-diameter in width; slight groove posterodorsal to the eye; nape crest fleshy from the first dorsal origin to above the operculum. Scales on side of nape extending forward to, or nearly to the eye; no median predorsal scales, no scales on cheek or operculum; base of pectoral-fin with oval, moderate-sized scales; prepelvic area with 5-6 rows of cycloid scales, isthmus naked anteriorly, with one slightly enlarged scale on the membrane between the bases of the pelvic fins Australian material - second dorsal-fin spine relatively short, rarely reaching beyond the middle of the second dorsal fin when adpressed. |
Colour |
Overall bright red with an underlying dusting of brown chromatophores (Great Barrier Reef individuals), snout and lips red, rest of head and body normally red to reddish orange, rarely yellowish orange. A narrow blue bar along posteroventral margin of eye expanding into a narrow bar extending ventrally to behind jaws; anteriorly a narrow blue line from anteroventral margin of eye extending to just behind middle of lips; often with a third blue mark just behind posterior nostril. Pupil surrounded by a thin yellow to gold circle; iris reddish orange, often golden ventrally. Body often with melanophores arranged in vertical wavy lines along centers of scales; Caudal peduncle with faint grey stripes formed by dense subcutaneous dark pigment. Dorsal fins largely transparent, with a thin yellow to red stripe just above base of fin, a second thin stripe just below middle of fin, most prominent on second dorsal fin. Second dorsal fin yellowish to pale orange above stripes, with a narrow white to bluish distal margin. Anal fin red to reddish orange with a narrow blue to white distal margin. Caudal fin reddish-orange to yellow basally grading posteriorly to a translucent grey, distal margin often pale blue. Pectoral and pelvic fins white to pale grey. |
Feeding |
Feeds on plankton. |
Etymology |
The species is named for "Peter Benjamin of Benjamin Film Laboratory, Toronto, who has generously provided free 35 mm color film and processing for my field work..." |
Species Citation |
Trimma benjamini Winterbottom, 1996, Rev. Franç. d'Aquariol. Herpétol. 23(1–2): 57, figs 1-4. Type locality: Siquijor Island, Tonga Point, 9°12'17"N, 12.3°27'14"E, Philippines |
Author |
Bray, D.J. 2025 |
Resources |
Ringeye Pygmygoby, Trimma benjamini Winterbottom 1996
References
Allen, G.R. 1993. Fishes of Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 44: 67-91 (as Trimma sp. 5)
Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.
Greenfield, D. 2016. Trimma benjamini. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T193151A2201395. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T193151A2201395.en. Downloaded on 16 May 2018.
Kuiter, R.H. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 3. Jawfishes - Sunfishes, Opistognathidae - Molidae. Australia, Melbourne : Zoonetics, pp. 623-893.
Moore, G.I., Morrison, S.M., Hutchins, J.B., Allen, G.R. & Sampey, A. 2014. Kimberley marine biota. Historical data: Fishes. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement 84: 161-206.
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.
Winterbottom, R. 1996. A new species of gobiid fish, Trimma benjamini, from the western Pacific. Revue Française d'Aquariologie et Herpétologie 23(1–2): 57-60.
Winterbottom, R., Alofs, K.M. & Marseu, A. 2011. Life span, growth and mortality in the western Pacific goby Trimma benjamini, and comparisons with T. nasa. Environmental Biology of Fish 91: 295-301.
Winterbottom, R. & Hoese, D.F. 2015. A revision of the Australian species of Trimma (Actinopterygii, Gobiidae), with descriptions of six new species and redescriptions of twenty-three valid species. Zootaxa 3934: 1-102 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3934.1.1
Winterbottom, R. & Southcott, L. 2007. Two new species of the genus Trimma (Percomorpha: Gobiidae) from western Thailand. aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 13( 2): 69-76.