Caragobius rubristriatus (Saville-Kent, 1889)

Edward O. Murdy & Koichi Shibukawa, 2003, A revision of the Indo-Pacific fish genus Caragobius (Gobiidae: Amblyopinae)., Zootaxa 301, pp. 1-12 : 9-10

Caragobius rubristriatus (Saville-Kent, 1889)

(Fig. 3, Tables 1-2)

Amblyopus rubristriatus Saville-Kent, 1889 : 235 (type locality, Cambridge Gulf, Western Australia, Australia) .

Taenioides rubristriatus : McCulloch and Ogilby, 1919: 207 ( new combination).

Brachyamblyopus rubristriatus : Larson and Williams, 1997: 372 ( new combination).

Material examined. (Total of 18 specimens, 36.8-102.8 mm SL). Western Australia, Australia: Prince Regent River: WAM P.25035-003, 4:45.1-64.3. Northern Territory, Australia: East Alligator River: AMS I. 32102001, 1:65.0; King Creek: AMS I.21221-001, 3:81.4- 102.8; Roper River near Gulf of Carpentaria: NTM S. 14017-005, 1:75.1. Queensland, Australia: west of Cape York: AMS I.15557-230, 9:36.8-93.6.

Description. As for genus except as follows. Total elements in dorsal fin 43-52 (mean = 48.6); total anal-fin elements 35-45 (mean = 41.3), first element spinous or segmented; pectoral-fin rays 16-20 (mean = 17.8); anal-fin pterygiophores preceding the first hemal spine (AP) 3-5 (mean = 3.9); caudal vertebral count 25-27 (mean = 26.3); SL/TL 0.775- 0.844 (mean = 0.809); pelvic-fin length (PEL)/HL 0.463-0.750 (mean = 0.547); predorsal length/SL 0.211-0.281 (mean = 0.248).

Scales absent from anteriormost 30% of head and body, scales extending posteriorly from the vertical with 3rd or 4th dorsal-fin spine.

10-23 teeth in outer row of upper jaw; 14-25 teeth in outer row of lower jaw. Jaws terminating posteriorly at a vertical with posterior naris. Anterior nares slightly closer together than posterior nares.

Color when fresh. No fresh specimens were available, however Saville-Kent (1889) stated that this fish was rosy pink in life with a carmine longitudinal stripe and smaller carmine streaks branching from the longitudinal stripe that delineated the outlines of the myotomes. Its fins were yellowish.

Color in alcohol. Head and body tannish; fins translucent. In many specimens, prominent blood vessel gives the appearance of a brownish blotch dorsal to the pectoral-fin base coursing along the anterior pectoral-fin base.

Ecology. The original description (Saville-Kent, 1889) was based on a single specimen collected with a dredge in Cambridge Gulf from a depth of approximately 9 m. According to Saville-Kent, a second fish was brought to the surface by the same method near Darwin but the fish escaped back into the water.

Distribution. Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Queensland, Australia. In comparison to its congener, the distribution of C. rubristriatus is very limited, extending across northern Australia from the Prince Regent River to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Remarks. The type for C. rubristriatus may still exist, but its whereabouts are unknown (Eschmeyer, 1998). Meristic values and the figure provided in the original description serve to distinguish this species and, thus, the designation of a neotype is not warranted at this time.

The original description contains an error with respect to the count of anal-fin rays; the count for the anal fin is given as 6/44, which is the same as for the dorsal fin (Saville-Kent, 1889). Based on radiographs of 12 specimens, no specimen had more than one spine in the anal fin and none had more than 45 total anal-fin elements. We believe that SavilleKent mistakenly repeated the count of dorsal-fin elements for the anal fin.