Green-shoulder Goby, Acentrogobius caninus (Valenciennes 1837)

Other Names: Tropical Sand Goby

A Green-shoulder Goby, Acentrogobius caninus, from Darwin, Northern Territory, July 2024. Source: Nick Volpe / iNaturalist.org. License: CC BY Attribution-Noncommercial

Summary:

A pale grey goby with a diagnostic greenish patch behind the upper edge of the gill cover. five diffuse brown saddles along the back, 4-5 diffuse brown blotches along the midside, and scattered white spots on the head and body.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2025, Acentrogobius caninus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 06 Jul 2026, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/59

Green-shoulder Goby, Acentrogobius caninus (Valenciennes 1837)

More Info

Distribution	Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia, to Moreton Bay, Queensland. Elsewhere the species is found in the east-Indo-west-central Pacific: Sri Lanka, throughout the East Indian region, to the Caroline Islands; northern Australia and Fiji, north to Ryukyu Islands and Micronesia (Pohnpei). Inhabits sandy, muddy, estuarine and mangrove creeks, seagrass habitats, and coastal reef flats.
Features	Dorsal fin V-VI + I, 9-10; Anal fin I, 8-9; Pectoral fin 17-19; Longitudinal scale series 24-29. Body depth 5.3 in SL; scales absent on head except upper half of opercle and predorsal which are fully scaled; body scales mostly ctenoid. Caudal fin rounded.
Etymology	The specific name is from the Latin caninus (= of or relating to dogs), in reference to the nlarged teeth of this species.
Species Citation	Gobius caninus Valenciennes, in Cuvier & Valenciennes 1837, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons Vol. 12: 86. Type locality: Java.
Author	Bray, D.J. 2025
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Green-shoulder Goby, Acentrogobius caninus (Valenciennes 1837)

References

Allen, G.R. 2015. Descriptions of two new gobies (Gobiidae: Acentrogobius) from Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 14: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1037608

Chargulaf, C.A., Townsend, K.A. & Tibbetts, I.R. 2011. Community structure of soft sediment pool fishes in Moreton Bay, Australia. Journal of Fish Biology 78: 479–494.

Akihito, Sakamoto, K., Ikeda, Y. & Sugiyama, K. 2002. Gobioidei. pp.1139-1310, 1596-1619 in Nakabo, T. (ed.) Fishes of Japan with pictorial keys to the species. English edition. Tokyo : Toikai University Press pp. 867-1749.

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

Blaber, S.J.M., Brewer, D.T., Salini, J.P., Kerr, J.D. & Conacher, C. 1992. Species composition and biomasses of fishes in tropical seagrasses at Groote Eylandt, northern Australia. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 35: 605-620

Blaber, S.J.M., Salini, J.P. & Brewer, D.T. 1990. A checklist of the fishes of Albatross Bay and the Embley estuary, north-eastern Gulf of Carpentaria. CSIRO Marine Laboratory. Report 210: 1-22

Greenfield, D. & Larson, H. 2016. Acentrogobius caninus (errata version published in 2020). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T68325526A174798268. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T68325526A174798268.en. Accessed on 02 December 2025.

Hutchins, B. 2004. Fishes of the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement 66: 343–398

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Jordan, D.S. & Richardson, R.E. 1908. Fishes from the islands of the Philippine Archipelago. Bulletin of the Bureau of Fisheries (U.S.) for 1907 27: 233-287 figs 1-12 (as Rhinogobius caninus)

Kottelat, M. 2013. The fishes of the inland waters of southeast Asia: a catalogue and core bibliography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and estuaries. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 27: 1-663

Koumans, F.P. 1931. A Preliminary Revision of the genera of the gobioid fishes with united ventral fins. Lisse : Proefschrift Drukkerij Imperator N.V. 174 pp.

Koumans, F.P. 1953. The Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Gobioidea. Leiden : Brill Vol. 10 423 pp. 95 figs.

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

Larson, H.K. & Lim, K.K.P. 2005. A guide to the gobies of Singapore. Singapore : Singapore Science Centre 164 pp.

Larson, H.K. & Williams, R.S. 1997. Darwin Harbour fishes: a survey and annotated checklist. pp. 339-380 in Hanley, H.R., Caswell, G., Megirian, D. & Larson, H.K. (eds). The Marine Flora and Fauna of Darwin Harbour, Northern Territory, Australia. Proceedings of the Sixth International Marine Biology Workshop. Darwin : Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory 466 pp.

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