Common Name
Cayman Greenbanded Goby
Year Described
Victor, 2014
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VII, 11-12 (usually 11)
Anal Fin: 10
Pectoral Fin: 20-22
Caudal Fin: 17 (segmented), 6-8 procurrent rays on top and 5-7 bottom
Pelvic fins fused into circular disk. Body scaleless. First dorsal spine elongate in large adults.
Color
Head pale gray, grading to yellowish on the lower head. A single bright red stripe from snout to opercle. A brighter red ring around iris and a patch on upper opercle. Rest of body abruptly grass-green to dark blue-green behind pectoral fin base. The boundary between the red eye stripe and the green body is black. There are 20-28 (mean 25) neon green bands on the green part of the body that are much thinner than interspaces. Fins are all unmarked yellowish-green to translucent.
Size
Maximum size to 21.1mm SL
Habitat
Shallow coral reefs
Range
Endemic to the Cayman Islands
References
Victor, B.C. 2014. Three new endemic cryptic species revealed by DNA barcoding of the gobies of the Cayman Islands (Teleostei: Gobiidae). J. Ocean Sci. Found. 12: 25-60.
Other Notes
While very similar morphologically to Tigrigobius multifasciatus and T. panamensis, this Cayman endemic is 11% divergent from Antillean T. multifasciatus and 3-4% divergent from the Central American T. panamensis and T. rubrigenis (Victor, 2014). The clade forms a cryptic species complex with significant morphological overlap, with only T. rubrigenis having obvious color pattern differences.