Halfbridled Goby, Arenigobius frenatus (Günther 1861)

Other Names: Banded Goby, Falsely Bridled Goby, Half-bridled Goby

Summary:

Head slightly compressed; snout short, blunt; mouth oblique, terminal, reaching to below middle of eye; eyes large, close together on top of head; tail weakly pointed to slightly rounded; pectoral fins large, weakly pointed to slightly rounded.

Greyish-brown with black spots on head, and about 8 irregular bands on sides; horizontal stripe on side of head from eye across top of gill cover; usually a vertical dark bar below eye.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2017, Arenigobius frenatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 13 Jan 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/84

Halfbridled Goby, Arenigobius frenatus (Günther 1861)

More Info

Distribution	Endemic to tropical and temperate waters of eastern Australia, from Cape Tribulation, Queensland, to Flinders Island, Tasmania, and west to Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. Pairs live in burrows in seagrass beds or amongst mangroves in bays, estuaries and coastal lagoons, in depths to 10 m.
Features	Dorsal fin VI, I, 10-11; Anal fin I, 10; Caudal fin (segmented rays) 17; Pectoral fin 17-19; Pelvic fin I, 5.
Size	To 11 cm
Colour	Greyish-brown with black spots on head, and about 8 irregular broken bands on sides; horizontal stripe on side of head from eye across top of gill cover; usually a vertical dark bar below eye.
Feeding	Feeds on small benthic invertebrates.
Biology	The sexes are separate and females spawn demersal eggs in burrows.
Fisheries	Of no interest to fisheries.
Species Citation	Gobius frenatus Günther 1861, Cat. Fish. Brit. Mus.3: 39. Type locality: Australia
Author	Bray, D.J. 2017
Resources	Australian Faunal Directory

Halfbridled Goby, Arenigobius frenatus (Günther 1861)

References

Cadwallader, P.L. & Backhouse, G.N. 1983. A Guide to the Freshwater Fish of Victoria. Melbourne : F.D. Atkinson Government Printer 249 pp. figs.

Edgar, G.J. & C. Shaw. 1995. The production and tropic ecology of shallow-water fish assemblages in Southern Australia. II. Diets of fishes and tropic relationships between fishes and benthos at Western Port. Victoria. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 194: 83-106.

Günther, A. 1861. Catalogue of the Fishes in the British Museum. Catalogue of the acanthopterygian fishes in the collection of the British Museum. London : British Museum Vol. 3 586 pp.

Hoese, D.F. & Larson, H.K. 1994. Family Gobiidae. pp. 781-810, figs 690-714 in Gomon, M.F., Glover, C.J.M. & Kuiter, R.H (eds). The Fishes of Australia's South Coast. Adelaide : State Printer 992 pp. 810 figs.

Hoese, D.F. & H.K. Larson. 2008. Family Gobiidae (pp. 749-773), in Gomon. M.F., Bray, D.J. & Kuiter, R.H (eds) 2008. Fishes of Australia's Southern Coast. Sydney : Reed New Holland 928 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp.

Johnson, J.W. 1999. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 43(2): 709-762.

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)

Macleay, W.J. 1881. Descriptive catalogue of the fishes of Australia. Part 2. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1 5(4): 510-629 pls 13-14 (as Gobius semifrenatus)

Thomson, J.M. 1978. A Field Guide to the Common Sea & Estuary Fishes of Non-tropical Australia. Sydney : Collins 144 pp.