Yellow and Black Dwarfgoby, Trimma flavatrum Hagiwara & Winterbottom 2007

Other Names: Hime-aogi-haze, Wasp Pygmy Goby, Wasp Pygmygoby

Summary:

A yellowish to "dirty" yellowish-orange goby becoming darker towards the caudal peduncle which is blackish or dark brown, reddish-orange to yellow dorsal and anal fins with a dark basal stripe, and an almost translucent to yellow caudal fin with a pale margin. Although the dark marking on the caudal peduncle covers almost the entire peduncle, it is diffuse anteriorly and increasingly darker posteriorly.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Trimma flavatrum in Fishes of Australia, accessed 18 May 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/493

Yellow and Black Dwarfgoby, Trimma flavatrum Hagiwara & Winterbottom 2007

More Info

Distribution	Rowley Shoals, Western Australia, Cartier Reef in the Timor Sea, and the northern outer Great Barrier Reef, Queensland; not recorded from mid- or inshore reefs on the Great Barrier Reef. Elsewhere the species occurs in the West Pacific: Australia, east to Samoa, north through Palau & the Caroline Islands to the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. Inhabits caves, recesses and overhangs, often hovering upside-down.
Features	Dorsal fin VI + I,7-8; Anal fin I, 7-8; Longitudinal scale series 22-26; Predorsal scales 7-8. Body depth about 4.4-4.6 in SL. Scales present in the predorsal midline, cheek and opercle; interorbital region broad, shallowly concave with no raised fleshy ridge on midline, bony interorbital equal to about half or more of pupil width; no postorbital trench; no elongate dorsal spines; fifth pelvic fin ray usually unbranched (may be branched once sequentially).
Size
Colour	Yellow to dirty yellow-orange with scattered melanophores intensifying to a blackish or dark brown caudal peduncle, with median fins reddish-orange to yellow with a dark basal stripe, except for the caudal fin, which varies from almost translucent to yellow with whitish margins.
Etymology	The specific name is from the Latin flavus (= yellow) and atrum (= black), in reference to the unusual yellow and black coloration of this species.
Species Citation	Trimma flavatrum Hagiwara & Winterbottom 2007, Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science (A) Suppl. 1: 164, figs 1-6. Type locality: Nishikomi Cave, 28°13'54"N, 129°10'35"E, Amami-Oshima Island, Setouchi Town, Oshima County, Nansei Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, depth 8 m.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Yellow and Black Dwarfgoby, Trimma flavatrum Hagiwara & Winterbottom 2007

References

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

Hagiwara, K. & Winterbottom, R. 2007. Two new species of Trimma (Gobiidae) from the western Pacific. Bulletin of the National Museum of Nature and Science (A) Suppl. 1: 163-174

Moore, G.I., Morrison, S.M., Hutchins, B.J., Allen, G.R. & Sampey, A. 2014. Kimberley marine biota. Historical data: fishes. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 84: 161-206

Senou, H., Suzuki, T., Shibukawa, K. & Yano, K. 2004. A photographic guide to the gobioid fishes of Japan. Heibonsha, Ltd., Tokyo. 534 pp. (p, 114, as Trimma sp. 10)

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