Common Name
Tiger Goby
Year Described
Beebe & Tee-Van, 1928
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VII, 11-12 (usually 11)
Anal Fin: 9-11 (usually 10)
Pectoral Fin: 16-18 (usually 17)
Caudal Fin: 17 (segmented)
Vertebrae: 11 precaudal, 17 caudal; 27 total
Body elongate with a blunt snout. Two preopercular pores. A small patch of scales on caudal peduncle. Four modified basicaudal scales. Last 2 dorsal spines separated more than the anterior five. Anterior spine may be elongate in mature males. Pelvic fin forms a fused disk.
Color
Body opaque gray with internal organs and vertebrae barely visible through body wall. Vertebrae banded. There are 12-14 black body bands that are much narrower than interspaces. There are three additional bands on the head, one of which passes through eye. Other small black markings on snout. Tiny melanophores sprinkled all over the body and fins, with concentrations on the base of the fins. Anal fin often flushed with blue.
Size
Maximum size to 50mm SL.
Habitat
Found on coral reefs (<20m) associated with coral rubble and crevices in the reef structure or around sponges.
Range
Florida to the islands of the S. Caribbean Sea. Also Bermuda.
References
Böhlke, J. E., & Robins, C. R. 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, 120, 45-174.