- Classification
- ACTINOPTERYGII
- PERCIFORMES
- GOBIIDAE
- Eviota
- oculineata
False-comet Dwarfgoby, Eviota oculineata Tornabene, Greenfield & Erdmann 2021
Other Names: Comet Dwarfgoby, Comet Pygmy Goby, Comet Pygmygoby, Comet Pygmy-goby
A False-comet Dwarfgoby, Eviota oculineata, in Fiji. Source: Rudy Whitworth, Fig. 35, in Greenfield & Randall (2016) Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 20. License: CC BY Attribution
Summary:
A semi-transparent pygmy goby with two horizontal stripes through the eye, the upper yellow, the lower white, and yellow mottling along dorsal surface of the eye. the species a horizontal hour-glass-shaped mark on the caudal-fin base, a broad reddish to brown internal stripe containing white spots along the head and body, a white stripe and/or a series of dashes often along the vertebral column just above the reddish stripe, and 3-5 whitish to yellowish spots along the lower side behind the anus.
In Australia, this species was previously confused with Eviota cometa, a species found only in Fiji and Tonga.
In Australia, this species was previously confused with Eviota cometa, a species found only in Fiji and Tonga.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2025, Eviota oculineata in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1345
False-comet Dwarfgoby, Eviota oculineata Tornabene, Greenfield & Erdmann 2021
More Info
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Distribution |
Scott Reef, Western Australia, and the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, and reefs in the Coral Sea. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, west Pacific: Philippines, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Micronesia (Palau, Pohnpei, Marshall Islands), Kiribati (Phoenix and Line Islands, Caroline Island), southwards to Indonesia (Bali), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Australia. Inhabits sandy bottoms adjacent to well-developed reefs, rubble areas and dead coral with algae. |
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Features |
Dorsal fin VI, I,8; Anal fin I, 7; Pectoral fin usually 14 (all unbranched). Body depth Eye with two horizontal stripes, the upper yellow, the lower white, with yellow mottling along dorsal surface of eye; body depth 27–31% SL |
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Colour |
Colouration: with a large and dark oval spot on area of preural centrum connected to a short, vertically elongate spot over end of hypural plate; caudal fin with no prominent vertical bars; naris long and reddish brown; side of body with prominent red lateral streak bordered dorsally by 3-5 elongate white dashes; eye with two distinct horizontal stripes, one white crossing through lower margin of pupil, the other yellow crossing upper margin of pupil. |
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Feeding |
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Etymology |
The specific name oculineata is from the Latin oculi (= eye) and linea (= line, stripe), in reference to the stripes through the eye, which distinguish this species from Eviota cometa. |
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Species Citation |
Eviota cometa Tornabene, Greenfield & Erdmann 2021, ZooKeys 1057:165, Figs. 10-12, 16D. Type locality: Pulau Liki West, northern New Guinea, 01°37.300'S, 138°43.395'E, depth 30 m. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2025 |
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Resources |
False-comet Dwarfgoby, Eviota oculineata Tornabene, Greenfield & Erdmann 2021
References
Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp. (as Eviota cometa)
Allen, G.R. & Russell, B.C. 1986. Part VII Fishes. pp. 79-103 in Berry, P.F. (ed.) Faunal Surveys of the Rowley Shoals, Scott Reef and Seringapatam Reef, northwestern Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 25: 1-106. (as Eviota cometa)
Greenfield, D.W. 2017. An overview of the dwarfgobies, the second most speciose coral-reef fish genus (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Eviota). Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 29: 32-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1115683
Greenfield, D.W. & Randall, J.E. 2016. A review of the dwarfgobies of Fiji, including descriptions of five new species (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Eviota). Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 20: 25-75. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.48268 (as Eviota cometa)
Greenfield, D.W., Tornabene, L, Erdmann, M.V. & Pada, D.N. 2019. Eviota gunawanae, a new microendemic dwarfgoby from the Fakfak Peninsula, West Papua, Indonesia (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 32: 57-67. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2616753 (as Eviota cometa)
Greenfield, D.W. & Winterbottom, R. 2016. A key to the dwarfgoby species (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Eviota) described between 1871 and 2016. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 24: 35–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.219620
Tornabene, L., Greenfield, D.W. & Erdmann, M.V. 2021. A review of the Eviota zebrina complex, with descriptions of four new species (Teleostei, Gobiidae). ZooKeys 057: 149-184. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1057.66675
