Glossogobius giuris (Hamilton, 1822)

Hoese, Douglass F. & Hammer, Michael P., 2021, A review of the Glossogobius giuris complex in Australia, with wider discussion on nomenclature and possible synonymies, Zootaxa 4974 (1), pp. 79-115 : 83

Glossogobius giuris complex

The Glossogobius giuris complex is defined here as species which have two or more rows of papillae in some cheek papilla lines and the inner preopercular mandibular papilla line and an indistinct truncate mental fraenum without elevated lateral lobes. The group includes the two species treated here, G. giuris and G. laticeps . Other species include Glossogobius matanensis , G. intermedius , G. flavipinnis and G. mahalonensis from Sulawesi and G. obscuripinnis from the Philippines to Sulawesi and G. olivaceus from China and Japan and a number of undescribed species from the western Indian Ocean and Sulawesi. In species from the Malili lakes in Sulawesi the cheek papilla rows expand over the whole cheek and the individual papilla lines are often indistinguishable from one another (Hoese et al. 2015). Glossogobius kokius from Mauritius, G. callidus and G. tenuiformis are similar in general appearance to species in the complex, but these species lack multiple rows of sensory papillae in the cheek lines. The “giuris” complex is also similar in general morphology to the Pacific species Glossogobius aureus and G. koragensis , which have papilla lines composed of a single row of papillae. Large G. aureus may have a few extra papillae along one or two of the cheek lines, but these do not form distinct rows along the whole line. Also G. circumspectus is similar in having an indistinct mental frenum, but differs in having several vertical rows of papillae on the cheek. That species is also the only species confined to mangrove environments. Other species are typically found in freshwaters as adults.