Common Name
Exuma Goby
Year Described
Böhlke & Robins, 1968
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VII, 12-13
Anal Fin: 10-12 (usually 11)
Pectoral Fin: 15-17 (usually 16)
Caudal Fin:
Gill Rakers: 9-10 (total)
Head obviously pointed. Mouth subterminal. Body scaleless. Pelvic fins fused to form a sucking disk.
Color
Body stripe pale to bright yellow; runs from eye to caudal fin. Stripe often bisected by dark pigment or broken up posteriorly. A dark lateral stripe contricts posteriorly but expands again on caudal fin into a prominent black blotch. Snout dark with a yellow spot. Body dark to dusky with numerous dark melanophores sprinkled over body. Anal fin rays dark but other fins transparent.
Size
Maximum size to 22.4mm SL.
Habitat
Found on deep reefs from 16-35m. Perches on or swims around coral heads. Not known to engage in cleaning behavior.
Range
Known only from the Bahamas.
References
Böhlke, J. E. and C. R. Robins. 1968. Western Atlantic seven-spined gobies, with descriptions of ten new species and a new genus, and comments on Pacific relatives. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia v. 120: 45-174.
Other Notes
The only other shoaling, open water species of Elacatinus is E. jarocho, which lives in the western Gulf of Mexico and has a different color pattern (two short yellow stripes on head and tail).