Common Name
Whiskered Goby
Year Described
Böhlke & Robins, 1968
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VII, 10-11
Anal Fin: 9-10
Pectoral Fin: 16-18
Vertebrae: 11+16 = 27 total
Body completely naked (lacking basicaudal scales). Frenum absent. Gill opening a short slit. Median barbel on tip of snout. Two short median barbels. A pair of barbels on side of head between eye and upper jaw. Barbel absent of posterior lower jaw. Additional long barbels also present on underside of head. Barbels are often longer than eye diameter. First dorsal spines not elongate at any size. Last two spines more separated than first five. Pelvic fins fused. Two preopercular pores in adults.
Color
Pattern variable. Body pale to medium brown with large stellate dark melanophores scattered over entire body. Lower head and lower trunk grades to white. Random whitish blotches often exist where melanophores are absent or smaller. Barbels often white. Dorsal, pelvic, and anal fins pale with speckling of melanophores basally. Pectoral fin with dark melanophores basally. Tail with half to two-thirds of length black, giving the appearance of a pale outer margin.
Size
Maximum size to 25mm SL.
Habitat
Found in calcareous substrates and under rubble in shallow water (<5m) areas of high turbulence.
Range
Caribbean islands from the Bahamas to the Lesser Antilles.
References
Böhlke, J.E., & 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: 45-174.
Joyeux, J.C., J.L. Van Tassell, & R.M. Macieira. 2009. Barbulifer enigmaticus, a new seven-spined goby (Pisces: Teleostei: Gobiidae) from the southwestern Atlantic. Zootaxa. 2022: 58-68.