Pleurosicya plicata Larson, 1990

Folded Ghostgoby

Figure 8

Pleurosicya plicata Larson, 1990: 41 (type locality: Salomon Atoll, Chagos Archipelago; holotype: ROM 58031)— Bogorodsky et al. 2010: 123 (southern Egypt); Golani & Bogorodsky 2010: 48 (listed); Golani & Fricke 2018: 159 (listed).

Distinctive characters (following Bogorodsky et al. 2010). Pectoral-fin rays 15–18 (usually 16); midline of nape and side of nape naked, scales on side of body not extending forward to pectoral-fin base; gill opening extending forward to below preopercular margin; tip of tongue trilobed; pelvic fins with spine lobes usually long, thin, and folded inward; translucent, with a series of alternating orange-brown and bluish dashes along vertebral column, three elongate orange-brown spots internally on upper part of abdomen, and a W-shaped reddish mark on nape, with all orange-brown and reddish markings containing dark brown dots; a short oblique brownish orange band before pectoral-fin base (Bogorodsky et al. 2010).

Distribution and Habitat. Ranges from the Red Sea, Mauritius and Chagos Archipelago, east to Papua New Guinea and Caroline Islands (Larson 1990; Bogorodsky et al. 2010). Lives on hard corals of the genera Favia and Goniastrea near soft corals of the family Nephtheidae in sheltered lagoons, at depths of 1–30 m; quickly retreats to soft corals when alarmed.

Remarks. There are no additional records since the single record from a large lagoon at Shams Alam, in the southern Red Sea (Bogorodsky et al. 2010). The specimen from Egypt differs in having a W-shaped mark on the nape. Further studies of the Red Sea population are needed.