Glossogobius tenuiformis Fowler, 1934

Esmaeili, Hamid Reza & Hamidan, Neshat, 2023, Inland fishes of the Arabian Peninsula: Review and a revised checklist, Zootaxa 5330 (2), pp. 201-226 : 214

30. Glossogobius tenuiformis Fowler, 1934 ―Natal Flathead goby, Oman Freshwater Goby ―Native

Taxonomy: Original description: Glossogobius tenuiformis Fowler, 1934:496 , fig. 49 [ from the St. Lucia Lake, 20 miles up, northern Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; Holotype: ANSP 60250 ]. Synonyms: None .

Status in the Arabian Peninsula. First record from Wadi Shab, Oman by Freyhof et al. (2020) as Glossogobius sp. , re-described by Al Jufaili et al. (2022), and confirmed by Esmaeili et al. (2022).

General distribution. Western Indian Ocean: KwaZulu-Natal ( South Africa); Oman. Habitat: freshwater, brackish, marine.

Distribution in the Arabian Peninsula. Oman: Wadis Hasik and Shab.

Economic importance. No commercial importance. Conservation. Not Evaluated (NE).

Remarks: Glossogobius giuris (Hamilton, 1822) was described from the Ganges River, India and is distributed in southern Red Sea; Indo-West Pacific: East Africa, Socotra, Seychelles, Madagascar and western Mascarenes, east to Society Islands, north to Philippines, south to Pilbara (Western Australia), Queensland ( Australia) and New Caledonia ( Fricke et al. 2023). Based on uncertainty about the type locality of Glossogobius giuris and its widespread distribution, a comprehensive study has been suggested to define the taxonomical status of this taxon. Hammer et al. (2021) grouped the G. giuris complex in four lineages based on molecular studies: “ giuris A” from Vietnam, Bangladesh and China; “ giuris B” from South Africa and India; “ giuris C” from India, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh and Vietnam and “ giuris D” from South Africa. The Oman populations of Glossogobius is placed in the “ giuris D” group and it is now considered as G. tenuiformis (Al Jufaili et al. 2022) . Found in estuaries and freshwater ( Larson 2022).