Common Name
Spotted Goby
Year Described
Springer, 1960
Identification
Dorsal Fin: VI; I, 10
Anal Fin: I, 9
Pectoral Fin: 18-20
Pelvic Fin: I, 5
Caudal Fin: 17 segmented rays
Lateral Line Scales: 25-28 (26-27)
Vertebrae: 9+17=26
Body elongate. Snout profile straight. Eyes large and placed dorsally. A low fleshy ridge present on nape from between eyes to dorsal fin origin. Anterior nostril tubular. Posterior nostril not tubular. Mouth small. Tongue truncated to rounded. No teeth on vomer or palatine. Teeth in jaws present in several irregular rows. Gill membranes joined to isthmus. Pectoral, soft dorsal, and anal fins with all rays branched and bound by membranes (first element simple). Second dorsal base longer than caudal peduncle length. Ventral fins fused into disk with frenum present and rays branched. Body covered in ctenoid scales, becoming cycloid on chest. Head and nape naked. Head pores present (one between eyes and one pair between rear nostrils). No lateral line.
Color
Body gray with a yellowish wash. Two rows of evenly placed, large burnt orange blotches on upper and lower flanks separated by lines and rows of pale spots. Slightly darker blotches run along dorsal midline. Edge of crest orange. Four orange lines on head: top three contiguous with three lines of blotches on body. Interspaces whitish, especially on cheek. Lower stripe on head yellow. Orange line runs onto upper base of pectoral fin and a small dark spot on lower base of pectoral fin. Spiny dorsal fin with an orange and brown stripe. Soft dorsal and caudal fin with large orange spots basally and smaller ones distally. Anal fin gray. All fins with thin white margins. Eye yellow and orange.
Size
Maximum size to 75mm SL.
Habitat
Sandy bottoms and patches of rocky or coral reefs (2-45m).
Range
South Carolina to Florida and the southern Gulf of Mexico. Absent from the Caribbean Sea.
References
Baldwin, C.C., Weigt, L.A., Smith, D.G., & J.H. Mounts. 2009. Reconciling genetic lineages with species in western Atlantic Coryphopterus (Teleostei: Gobiidae). Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences, 38: 111-138.
Baldwin C.C. & D.R. Robertson. 2015. A new, mesophotic Coryphopterus goby (Teleostei, Gobiidae) from the southern Caribbean, with comments on relationships and depth distributions within the genus. ZooKeys 513: 123-142.
Böhlke, J.E. & C.R. Robins. 1960. A revision of the gobioid fish genus Coryphopterus. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 112, 103-128.