Common Name
Banana River Goby
Year Described
Valenciennes 1837
Identification
Dorsal Fin: IV-VII, I, 9-11
Anal Fin: I, 9-11
Pectoral Fin: 14-16
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Scales: 57-86 (lateral rows)
Head large with fleshy cheeks and a smallish eye. Mouth size dimorphic (larger in males). Clavicular area under gill cover with prominent fleshy projections directed anteriorly. Two cephalic pores in the interorbital region. Seven pores running from behind orbit to behind upper opercular flap (subgenus Chonophorus). Vomer without teeth. Head, cheeks, and pectoral base scaleless. Body fully scaled. There are 26-40 predorsal scales. Median fins not confluent with caudal fin.
Color
Body whitish to cream with several dark brown irregular blotches on the lateral midline. Many brown blotches and darker speckling on the dorsum and head. Two lines may radiate from anterior of orbit to upper jaw. Dorsal fins with many brown spots centered on rays. Caudal fin with vertical spot-bands. Pectoral fin spotted. Rest of lower fins pale and unmarked.
Size
Maximum size to 30cm SL.
Habitat
Found in brackish and freshwater, and frequently in estuaries. Juveniles with greater salt tolerance.
Range
Florida and S. Texas, through the Caribbean islands, to Trinidad and the northern coast of South America. also the continental coast of Central America.
References
Lasso-Alcalá, O.M. & C.A. Lasso. 2008. Revisión taxonómica del género Awaous Valenciennes 1837 (Pisces: Perciformes, Gobiidae) en Venezuela, con notas sobre su distribución y hábitat. Memoria de la Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales, 67,168, [for 2007], 117–114.
Watson, R.E. 1996. Revision of the subgenus Awaous (Chonophorus) (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 7(1):1-18.
Other Notes
All records of Awaous tajasica from north of Brazil are this species.