Eviota raja Allen

Greenfield, David W. & Jewett, Susan L., 2011, Eviota rubriceps, a new goby from the Southwestern Pacific Ocean, with comments on E. mikiae and E. raja (Teleostei: Gobiidae), Zootaxa 3134, pp. 53-62 : 61

Eviota raja Allen

King dwarfgoby

Allen, G.R., 2001: 125–130.

Eviota raja was described on the basis of 16 specimens from the western end of Gam Island, Raja Ampat Islands, Irian Jaya Province, Indonesia, 0 0.4505°S, 130.4407°E (Allen, 2001). We here report on the availability of 45 more specimens also from Indonesia. Forty five specimens from a single collection were taken in the Batanta Islands (Hawaii Id.), NW tip of Irian Jaya, Indonesia, 0 0.8300°S, 130.9467°E, depth 0–6 m, 2 July 1979, BBC-1731, B.B. Collette, R/V Alpha Helix, MORO Cruise; total size range 10.0– 25.3 mm, size range for gravid females 14.3–16.8 mm. USNM 222649, 23.5 mm male; USNM 222650, 38 (10.0–25.3); CAS 47912, 2 (17.7–22.8 mm); ANSP 146758, 2 (16.6–23.0 mm); AMS I.22208–001, 2 (16.2–22.4 mm).

Additional description. These specimens agree with the description by Allen (2001) with the addition of the following information: breast with one or more, embedded, cycloid scales; vertebrae 11 (14), 12 (4) precaudal plus 13 (4), 14 (14) caudal, total 25 (18); all spines of first dorsal fin in males may be filamentous, the second through the fourth usually the longest, extending, at most, to base of eighth dorsal-fin ray; only slight elongation of dorsal spines observed in females; pelvic fins usually extend to origin of anal fin or beyond.

Expanded color description of preserved specimens. The salient coloration consists of moderately broad and intense scale pocket pigmentation over the body and a prominent dark vertical bar at end of caudal peduncle ( Fig.11 ). Head anteriorly, from a vertical through middle of eye forward, blackish; cheek, opercle and head dorsally behind eyes dusky. Fleshy base of pectoral fin dusky, usually with a small dark spot on upper portion. Nape pale or dusky. Body color pattern consists of broad, moderately intense borders of chromatophores on scale pockets, the resulting diamond-shaped pattern somewhat more intense anteriorly. Vertical subcutaneous bands on dorsal and ventral margins of body from about the origin of the second dorsal and anal fins to end of caudal peduncle; lower band sometimes prominent in smaller specimens and may be accompanied by narrow surface pigmentation. Large males with a dark prominent vertical bar overlying end of hypural plate, the bar slightly broader ventrally than in mid and upper portions. In smaller males and females bar is somewhat reduced and centrally constricted, becoming hourglass shaped, and is broader ventrally ( Fig. 12). Caudal fin with pale semicircular area in central basal portion, the central distal portion dusky; upper and lower portions of fin blackish, seemingly confluent with the dark basal pigmentation of second dorsal and anal fins when depressed. First dorsal fin dusky. Second dorsal and anal fins darker than spinous dorsal, blackish basally, outer portions dusky to pale. Pectoral and pelvic fins pale. Dorsal, anal and caudal fins, and body pigmentation, lighter in small specimens as well as in gravid females.

Figures

FIGURE 11. Eviota raja USNM 222649, 23.5 mm male, Indonesia.