Callogobius sp. - Any info?

We've been seeing this little goby in Lembeh for a few years, but the closest ID we can get is Callogobius sp. Does anyone have any more info or an exact ID?

Thanks,

Kaj

Kaj,

I contacted Helen Larson by email about the photos I took at KBR in Dec 2012 and she replied:-

"You have the mystery mudgoby. It does not yet have a name and I'm uncertain when it will! Dave Greenfield and I started to describe it some years ago and then learned that other people were working on it - it's a long and complex tale and the fish is still not named. I hope to meet up with some of the people involved in Okinawa and we can work out how to progress."

So the best ID at the moment is the common name "Mini Mud-Goby" and there is a Youtube video of it

Hi Kaj,

In "Reef fishes of the East Indies" your fish is shown as "whiskered goby" (Discordipinna sp.). They remark that it is "an undescribed species most similar to Discordipinna, but possibly a new genus". They include Sulawesi in the distribution and the visual match is very good though your image is nicer and more colorful. Brian's images have a rather different coloration and first dorsal fin shape, yet another species?. The RFEI image has a taller first dorsal than yours, but perhaps that is a gender-based difference.

Bart

Thank you, Brian and Bart, for helping with this.

Brian: The photos you posted look similar but, as Bart said, the dorsal fin seems to have a very different pattern, as does the tail (Barb's photo has a very distinctive dot on the tail). Thanks for the video link.

Bart: Yes, I agree these ones seem different to Brian's. I'll have to go through my 'still-to-be' cataloged drives to find the videos I got of these guys. I know I've got a fair bit of footage and I'm pretty sure I've some stuff with two of them, so it might be possible to see if there is a gender difference. I post the video when I can...

Cheers,

Kaj

Kaj, my images are of a pair in very close proximity, that seemed to be following each other around. There appeared to be no territorial aggression between the pair, so I assumed that they are male and female. If you look carefully at the dorsal markings you will see they are different. In my first image the dorsal and tail fins have a black margin which is not present in my second image nor Barb's images. Barb's images seem to have a black spot on the tail fin and two black spots on the second dorsal, which seems to match with my second image and the YouTube video.

Bart, are you able to scan or photograph the "whiskered goby" (Discordipinna sp.) image from "Reef fishes of the East Indies" and post it here for comparison and comment?

Gerry Allen has looked at this forum topic and commented by email:-

Thank you Brian. I really appreciate you taking the time to help with this. Great for a reply from Gerry

Kaj