Golden-red Stiphodon, Stiphodon rutilaureus Watson 1996


Other Names: Golden Red Stiphodon, Orange Cling Goby, Red and Gold Goby, Rutilaureus Cling Goby

A male Golden-red stiphodon, Stiphodon rutilaureus, from Goodenough Island, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Source: Gerald R. Allen. License: All rights reserved

Summary:

Males are red with a paler belly and a golden back; females are brownish-yellow with a black stripe along the side and transverse bands, and a black spot encircled by yellow to red on the caudal-fin base.

Video of male and female Stiphodon rutilaureus in a stream in Fiji.


Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2023, Stiphodon rutilaureus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 30 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/4827

Golden-red Stiphodon, Stiphodon rutilaureus Watson 1996

More Info


Distribution

Fast-flowing coastal streams in the Queensland Wet Tropics, from north of the Daintree River to south of Cairns. Elsewhere the species occurs in the West-Pacific - Indonesia (Irian Jaya), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia.

Inhabits rocky substrates in the lower reaches of fast flowing, clear and oxygen-rich streams, at the limits with salt water.

Features

Dorsal fin VI - I,10; Predorsal scales 7-13.
Males have filamentous third and fourth dorsal-fin spines.

Colour

Males and females are sexually dimorphic. Mature males have 9-11 bright orange/red bars along the body, 6-7 dark saddles on the upper surface, a pale belly, and a bright blue upper lip, cheek and opercle. The first dorsal fin is reddish with dark bars along the spines. The second dorsal and anal fins are blackish with a narrow pale bluish to whitish submarginal band. The caudal-fin is reddish with yellow outer rays and often a pale bluish to whitish submarginal band. The pectoral and anal fins are reddish.
Females are pale with a single, dark, midlateral stripe.

Feeding

Grazes on algal biofilms, occasionally ingesting benthic invertebrates.

Biology

Little is known of the biology and ecology of this species. The species is amphidromous - spawning occurs in freshwater and the larvae are washed downstream to the sea, and migrate back to freshwater. Like other species in the genus, females presumably lay adhesive eggs onto the underside of rocks in freshwater streams. The larvae are presumably carried downstream to the sea, before migrating back to freshwater as very small juveniles (Maeda & Tan 2013). 

Fisheries

Sold in the aquarium industry.

Conservation

IUCN Red List: least Concern

Etymology

The specific name rutilaureus is from the Latin rutilus (= red), and aureus (= golden) reference to the colour pattern of adult males.

Species Citation

Type locality: Letak Creek, about 25 km southeast of Wewak, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea, elevation 350 m.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2023

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Golden-red Stiphodon, Stiphodon rutilaureus Watson 1996

References


Allen, G.R. 1991. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of New Guinea. Madang : Publication No. 9, Christensen Research Institute 268 pp. (as Stiphodon sp.)

Boseto, D. 2006. Diversity, Distribution and Abundance of Fijian Freshwater Fishes. Masters thesis at the University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji: 273.

Ebner, B. 2019. Stiphodon rutilaureus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T196403A123381583. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T196403A123381583.en. Accessed on 28 February 2023.

Ebner, B.C. & Thuesen, P.A. 2010. Discovery of stream-cling-goby assemblages (Stiphodon species) in the Australian Wet Tropics. Australian Journal of Zoology 58: 331–340.

Ebner, B.C., P.A. Thuesen, H.K. Larson & P. Keith, 2012. A review of distribution, field observations and precautionary conservation requirements for sicydiine gobies in Australia. Cybium 35: 397–414.

Keith, P., Marquet, G., Lord, C., Kalfatak, D. & Vigneux, E. 2010. Poissons et crustacés d'eau douce du Vanuatu. Paris : Société Française d'Ichtyologie 253 pp.

Keith, P., G. Marquet & M. Pouilly, 2009. Stiphodon mele n. sp., a new species of freshwater goby from Vanuatu and New Caledonia (Teleostei, Gobiidae, Sicydiinae), and comments about amphidromy and regional dispersion. Zoosystema 31:471-483.

Maeda, K. & H-H. Tan. 2013. Review of Stiphodon (Gobiidae: Sicydiinae) from Western Sumatra, with description of a new species. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61(2): 749–761. See ref online

McDowall, R.M. 2007. On amphidromy, a distinct form of diadromy in aquatic organisms. Fish and Fisheries 8(1): 1-13.

McDowall, R.M. 2009. Early hatch: a strategy for safe downstream larval transport in amphidromous gobies. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 19(1): 1-8.

Parenti, L.R. & Thomas, K.R. 1998. Pharyngeal jaw morphology and homology in sicydiine gobies (Teleostei: Gobiidae) and allies. Journal of Morphology 237(3): 257-274.

Thuesen, P.A., Ebner, B.C., Larson, H.K., Keith, P., et al. 2011. Amphidromy links a newly documented fish community of continental Australian streams, to oceanic islands of the west Pacific. PLoS ONE 6(10): e26685 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0026685 PDF

Watson, R.E. 1995. Gobies of the genus Stiphodon from French Polynesia, with descriptions of two new species (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Sicydiinae). Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 6(1): 33-48.

Watson, R.E. 1996. A review of Stiphodon from New Guinea and adjacent regions, with descriptions of five new species (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Sicydiinae). Revue française d'Aquariologie Herpétologie 23(3-4): 113-132.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37428406

Biology:Amphidromous

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Freshwater streams, marine larvae

Max Size:4.5 cm SL

Species Image Gallery

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map