Hetereleotris vulgaris ( Klunzinger, 1871 )

Kovačić, Marcelo, Renoult, Julien P., Pillon, Roberto, Svensen, Rudolf, Bogorodsky, Sergey V., Engin, Semih & Louisy, Patrick, 2022, Identification of Mediterranean marine gobies (Actinopterygii: Gobiidae) of the continental shelf from photographs of in situ individuals, Zootaxa 5144 (1), pp. 1-103 : 67

Hetereleotris vulgaris ( Klunzinger, 1871) ( Fig. 47 )—Common Gogglegoby

Gobiosoma vulgare Klunzinger, 1871: 484 ; type locality: Red Sea , Egypt, Al Quseir .

Size. Reaches 4 cm total length.

Morphology. D VI + I,11; A I,10; P 15–17 (rarely 17). Body moderately elongate, its depth 4.2–5.3 in standard length. Head depressed, snout short, rounded. Caudal peduncle deep, but lower than body depth. Dorsal fins of similar height, the first dorsal fin with more or less rounded margin having spines subequal in length, none elongate. Caudal fin rounded, longer than head. Head and body scaleless ( Hoese 1986).

Live coloration. Semitranslucent gray, with 6 irregular, sometimes indistinct, dark yellowish brown bars on body, containing irregular pale spots, and extending into basal part of dorsal fins ( Fig. 47 ); head with 2 irregular dark brown bands radiating anteroventrally and posteroventrally from eye with a whitish area between them; a narrow dark brown bar at base of caudal fin ( Fig. 47 ), this fin crossed by irregular vertical rows of dark brown spots.

Similar species. Millerigobius macrocephalus , Zebrus zebrus , Z. pallaoroi .

Habitat. No data on habitat for the Mediterranean. In the Red Sea, inhabits crevices among stones on reef flat or rocky substrata at coral reefs at depths of 1–24 m.

Geographic distribution. Reported from the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Socotra Archipelago, south to Mozambique, east to southern Oman and Pakistan. A single specimen is known from the coast of Israel, eastern Mediterranean Sea ( Hoese 1986).

Figures

FIGURE 47. Live coloration in its natural habitat of Hetereleotris vulgaris. Photo by S.V. Bogorodsky, Mangrove Bay, El Quseir, Egypt, Red Sea.