Cleft-lipped Goby, Sicyopterus cynocephalus (Valenciennes 1837)

Summary:

A whitish or brown streamgoby (males, with darker saddles and mottling along the back, brown and yellow mottling on the nape, a dark bar below the eye, a red iris, a horizontal dark bar from the eye to the upper part of the pectoral-fin base, and two dark stripes on the pectoral fin.
Females are plain brown with striped pectoral fins, and lack mottling and bands along the back.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2018, Sicyopterus cynocephalus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 16 Feb 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/5456

Cleft-lipped Goby, Sicyopterus cynocephalus (Valenciennes 1837)

More Info

Distribution	Queensland wet tropics, south of Cairns. Elsewhere the species occurs in the tropical, west Pacific, from the Philppines and Indonesia, eastwards to the Solomon Islands. Inhabits the mid to upper reaches of fast flowing streams with gravel and boulder substrates. The species is amphidromous, and larvae are washed downstream, and return to freshwaters as they grow.
Features	Dorsal spines (total): 7; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11; Anal fin I, 10 Upper-lip margin with median and lateral clefts. Scales in lateral series 57-66.
Colour	Males are overall whitish or brown with darker saddles and mottling along the back, brown and yellow mottling on the nape, a dark bar below the eye, a red iris, a horizontal dark bar from the eye to the upper part of the pectoral-fin base, and two dark stripes on the pectoral fin. Females are plain brown with striped pectoral fins, and lack mottling and bands along the back.
Feeding	Grazes on algae and detritus on large boulders and bedrock.
Biology	Streamgobies spawn in freshwater, and the larvae are carried downstream to the sea where they undergo a planktonic phase, before returning to rivers and streams to mature.
Etymology	The specific name cynocephalus means 'dogheaded' and is from the Greek kynos (= dog) and kephalikos (= pertaining to the head).
Species Citation	Sicydium cyanocephalum Valenciennes in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1837, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons 12: 177. Type locality: Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2018

Cleft-lipped Goby, Sicyopterus cynocephalus (Valenciennes 1837)

References

Allen, G.R. 1991. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of New Guinea. Madang : Christensen Research Institute 268 pp.

Boseto, D. 2012. Sicyopterus cynocephalus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012: e.T196362A2449694. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012.RLTS.T196362A2449694.en. Downloaded on 13 August 2018.

Ebner, B.C., Donaldson, J., Allen, G.R & Keith, P. 2017. Visual census, photographic records and the trial of a video network provide first evidence of the elusive Sicyopterus cynocephalus in Australia. Cybium 41(2): 117-125. Ref available online, open access

Keith, P., Allen, G.R., Lord, C. & Hadiaty, R.K. 2012. Five new species of Sicyopterus (Gobioidei: Sicydiinae) from Papua New Guinea and Papua. Cybium 35(4) (for 2011): 299-318. Ref available online, open access

Keith, P., Lord, C. & Maeda, K. 2015. Indo-Pacific Sicydiine Gobies Biodiversity, life traits and conservation. Paris : Société Française d'Ichtyologie 256 pp.

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Larson, H. K. and B. Pidgeon 2004 (Dec.) [ref. 28107] New records of freshwater fishes from East Timor. The Beagle, Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory 20: 195-198.

Parenti, L.R. & Maciolek, J.A. 1993. New sicydiine gobies from Ponape and Palau, Micronesia, with comments on systematics of the subfamily Sicydiinae (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Bulletin of Marine Science 53(3): 945-972. Ref available online, open access

Thuesen, P.A., Ebner, B.C., Larson, H.K., Keith, P., Silcock, R.M., Prince, J. & Russell, D.J. 2011. Amphidromy links a newly documented fish community of continental Australian streams, to oceanic islands of the west Pacific. PLoS ONE 6(10): e26685 (11 pages) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0026685, open access

Valenciennes, A. in Cuvier, G.L. & Valenciennes, A. 1837. Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. Paris : Levrault Vol. 12 507 pp. pls 344-368. Ref at BHL