Flasher Sandgoby, Fusigobius signipinnis Hoese & Obika 1988

Other Names: Fine-spotted Sand-goby, Signal Goby, Signalfin Goby

Flasher Sandgoby, Fusigobius signipinnis, at Cebu, Central Visayas, Philippines. Source: Klaus Stiefel / Flickr: pacificklaus. License: CC BY Attribution-Noncommercial

Summary:

A small semi-transparent greyish goby with tiny orange-brown spots on sides, a reddish-brown iris, and the first dorsal fin with a black tip and a large brownish-orange blotch surrounding white spots below. Males have a taller and more noticeably pigmented spinous dorsal fin.

Video of a Flasher Sandgoby at Cebu in the Philippines.

Cite this page as:

Dianne J. Bray, Fusigobius signipinnis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 22 Jan 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/1373

Flasher Sandgoby, Fusigobius signipinnis Hoese & Obika 1988

More Info

Distribution	Recorded in Australia from Clerke Reef to Scott Reef, Western Australia, and Tijou Reef to One Tree Island, Queensland, and Ashmore Reef in the Coral Sea; also at Elizabeth Reef in the Tasman Sea near Lord Howe Island. Elsewhere, widespread in the tropical, east-Indo-west-central Pacific. Inhabits sandy patches near rubble and coral rock in lagoons and on seaward reefs.
Features	Meristic features: Dorsal fin VI + I, 9; Anal fin I, 8; Pectoral fin 16-18; Longitudinal scale series 23-25. Body depth 4.7-5.5 in SL; gill opening extending to level slightly anterior to posterior edge of preopercle; pelvic fins united only at bases; pelvic frenum absent; scales mostly ctenoid, cycloid scales on breast, base of pectoral fin and side of nape to above rear margin of preopercle; operculum naked; median predorsal scales absent. First dorsal fin taller in males than females; caudal fin rounded
Colour	Head with a diagonal line from the eye to the upper jaw, many small orange-brown spots on body, and a black margin and a large brownish-orange blotch surrounding white spots on the spinous dorsal fin. Males have a taller and more noticeably pigmented spinous dorsal fin than females.
Species Citation	Fusigobius signipinnis Hoese & Obika, 1988, Japan. J. Ichthyol. 35(3): 282, figs 1-7 .Type locality: Lizard Island, QLD.
Author	Dianne J. Bray

Flasher Sandgoby, Fusigobius signipinnis Hoese & Obika 1988

References

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

Hoese, D.F. & Obika, Y. 1988. A new gobiid fish, Fusigobius signipinnis, from the western tropical Pacific. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 35(3): 282-288 figs 1-7.

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.W. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Indonesian Reef Fishes. Part 3. Jawfishes - Sunfishes, Opistognathidae - Molidae. Melbourne : Zoonetics pp. 623–893.

Larson, H.K. & Murdy, E.O. 2001. Eleotridae, Gobiidae. pp. 3574-3604 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, T.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 6 pp. 3381-4218.

Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. A comprehensive guide to the coral reef fishes of Micronesia. Guam : Coral Graphics vi 330 pp. 192 pls.

Randall, J.E. 1995. Fusigobius Whitley, a junior synonym of the gobiid fish genus Coryphopterus Gill. Bull. Mar. Sci. 56(3): 795-798. (as Coryphopterus signipinnis)

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 (p. 133, as Fusigobius sp. 2; and as Fusigobius sp. DFH sp. 3)