Comet Clingfish, Flabellicauda cometes Fujiwara, Conway & Motomura 2021

Summary:

A maroon clingfish with a white stripe along the back from the snout tip to the dorsal-fin origin (stripe broad anteriorly, narrowing towards dorsal fin), and a second white stripe running from the rear of the jaw over the top of the eye to the posterior part of the body (fading towards the rear). The species has a dark red snout tip, reddish-orange jaws and a black pupil.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2022, Flabellicauda cometes in Fishes of Australia, accessed 03 May 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/5648

Comet Clingfish, Flabellicauda cometes Fujiwara, Conway & Motomura 2021

More Info

Distribution	Northern Great Barrier Reef - off Cape Melville and Lizard Island, Queensland. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the Indo-West Pacific: Seychelles, Chagos Archipelago, and Kiribati.
Features	Dorsal fin 10-12; Anal fin 9-11; Pectoral fin 27-28; Gill rakers (first 7 second arches) 5; upper end of gill opening level with base of 12th to 14th pectoral-fin ray in lateral view; head sensory canal pores poorly developed, including 2 nasal and 1 postorbital pore; disc region A without papillae at centre.
Colour	From photograph: Body maroon with white stripe on dorsal midline and lateral side of body; stripe on dorsal midline extending from snout tip to dorsal-fin origin, its width broad anteriorly, gradually narrower toward posterior; lateral stripes extending from posterior point of jaws, past dorsal margin of eye, to posterior part of body (becoming indistinct posteriorly). Snout tip dark red, jaws reddish orange. Pupil black.
Etymology	The specific name is from the Latin cometes (= a comet), in reference to the bold white stripe along the dorsal midline, reminiscent of the trailing tail of a traveling comet against the night sky.
Species Citation	Flabellicauda cometes Fujiwara, Conway & Motomura 2021, Ichthyology & Herpetology 109(3): 765, Figs. 2B, 6D-F, 7B, 16-17. Type locality: Salomon Atoll, Chagos Archipelago, 05 21 18 S, 72 12 58 E, 3–13 m.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2022

Comet Clingfish, Flabellicauda cometes Fujiwara, Conway & Motomura 2021

References

Fujiwara, K., Conway, K.W. & Motomura, H. 2021. Description of a new genus and two new species of Indo-Pacific clingfishes (Gobiesocidae: Diademichthyinae) with redescription and reassignment of two species previously assigned to Lepadichthys Waite, 1904. Ichthyology & Herpetology 109(3): 753-784. https://doi.org/10.1643/i2020132