Cryptocentrus melanopus (Bleeker 1860)


Other Names: Pink Shrimpgoby, Pink Spot Shrimp Goby, Pink-speckled Shrimpgoby, Singapore Shrimpgoby

A male Pinkspot Shrimpgoby, Cryptocentrus melanopus, on the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia, May 2015. Source: John Sear / iNaturalist.org. License: CC BY Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
A pale greenish-brown shrimpgoby becoming whitish below, with 6-7 brownish bars along the side, large pale-edged pink spots on the head and dorsal fins, pale spots scattered on the head, and a broad red bar on the pectoral-fin base. The first band below the second dorsal fin ends entirely before the anal-fin origin. 

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2018, Cryptocentrus melanopus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/5008

Cryptocentrus melanopus (Bleeker 1860)

More Info


Distribution

Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, to Field Island, Northern Territory, and the Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical west Pacific. Inhabits sandy areas on coral reef flats.

Remarks

This species has often been considered a junior synonym of Cryptocentrus leptocephalus or C. singapurensis (a junior synonym of C. leptocephalus).

Similar Species

The similar Pinkspot Shrimpgoby, Cryptocentrus leptocephalus, has smaller pink spots and many pale dots on the head, and the first band below the second dorsal fin ends in part above the anterior anal-fin rays.

Species Citation

Gobius melanopus Bleeker 1860, Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indiƫ 20: 456. Type locality: Singapore.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2018

Resources

Australian Faunal Directory

Cryptocentrus melanopus (Bleeker 1860)

References


Allen, G.R. 1985. Fishes of Western Australia. Book 9. pp. 2207-2534 526 pls in Burgess, W.E. & Axelrod, H.R. (eds) Pacific Marine Fishes. Neptune, New Jersey : T.F.H. Publications. (p. 2460, as Cryptocentrus leptocephalus)

Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls. (p. 216, as Cryptocentrus leptocephalus)

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

Bleeker, P. 1860. Derde bijdrage tot de kennis der vischfauna van Singapore. Natuurkundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indiƫ 20: 446-456.

Hoese, D.F. & Larson, H.K. 2006. Family Gobiidae. pp. 1612-1697 in Beesley, P.L. & Wells, A. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35 Australia : ABRS & CSIRO Publishing Parts 1-3, 2178 pp. (as Cryptocentrus leptocephalus, in part)

Hoese, D.F., Shibukawa, K. & Sakaue, J. 2011. A redescription of the gobiid fish Cryptocentrus sericus Herre, with clarification of Cryptocentrus leptocephalus and C. melanopus. Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology 17(3): 163-172. PDF

Johnson, J.W. & Gill, A.C. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of Sweers Island, Gulf of Carpentaria. Gulf of Carpentaria Scientific Study Report. Geography Monograph Series. Brisbane: Royal Geographic Society of Queensland. pp. 239-260

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293.

Russell, B.C., Fraser, T.H. & Larson, H.K. 2010. Castelnau's collection of Singapore fishes described by Pieter Bleeker. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 58(1): 93-102 (p. 99, considered C. melanopus as a senior synonym of Cryptocentrus leptocephalus) PDF available, Open access

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37428412

Behaviour:Shares burrows with alpheid shrimps

Depth:to 10 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:10 cm TL

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Species Maps

CAAB distribution map