Common Name
Cleaner Goby
Year Described
Böhlke & Robins, 1968
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VII, 11-12 (usually 12)
Anal Fin: 11-12 (usually 11)
Pectoral Fin: 16-18
Caudal Fin:
Gill Rakers: 7-8 (total)
Vertebrae: 28
Mouth ventral with an overhanging snout. Body scaleless. Pelvic fins fused to form a sucking disk.
Color
Body stripe yellow anteriorly, tapering posteriorly into a broad pearly white body stripe. Eye stripes fuse on the snout to form a V-shaped yellow marking. Dark stripes border the pale stripe dorsally and ventrally. Belly pale. Fins transparent with a fine peppering of melanophores.
Size
Maximum size to 36mm SL.
Habitat
Perches on coral heads on reefs from 1-30m. Engages in cleaning behavior.
Range
Caribbean Sea: the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.
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 close relative Elacatinus evelynae has a snout marking that is much thicker and rounded at the apex, while E. genie has a thin “V” with a sharp apex. Elacatinus genie is always white with yellow anteriorly, while E. evelynae is more variable. The other Caribbean gobies with ventral mouth are E. lobeli and E. oceanops, which have a blue stripe.