Common Name
Broadstripe Goby
Year Described
Böhlke & Robins, 1968
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VII, 11-12 (usually 11)
Anal Fin: 11
Pectoral Fin: 17-19
Caudal Fin:
Gill Rakers: 8
Vertebrae: 28
Mouth subterminal. Body scaleless. Pelvic fins fused to form a sucking disk.
Color
Body stripe pale blue, bordered by white above and below. Stripe usually as wide or wider than eye and continues onto snout where it fuses into a "V" or "Y" shaped marking. Dark lateral stripe continues and tapers onto tail. Back black. Belly paler gray with a sprinkling of melanophores. Fins peppered with melanophores.
Size
Maximum size to 22mm SL.
Habitat
Coral reefs from 1-20m. Perches on coral heads but not recorded as engaging in cleaning behavior.
Range
Caribbean Sea: known from the Lesser Antilles, but a disjunct population occurs off Belize, Honduras, and Jamaica (see notes).
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 populations from the western Caribbean differ slightly in meristics and color pattern and may represent an undescribed lineage allied with Elacatinus prochilos.