Gobius xoriguer Iglésias, Vukić & Šanda 2021

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 : 66

Gobius xoriguer Iglésias, Vukić & Šanda 2021 ( Fig. 59 )—Kestrel Goby

Gobius xoriguer Iglésias, Vukić & Šanda 2021a: 3 , type locality: western Mediterranean , France, Corsica, Off Ghisonaccia, Tyrrhenian Sea.

Size. Known adult size reaching 6.5 cm total length.

Morphology. D VI + I,14; A I,13; P 18–19. Moderately long body and distinctly large eyes. Snout short (shorter than eye diameter), with moderately steep and rounded profile. Caudal peduncle deep, but lower than body depth. First dorsal fin higher than second dorsal fin (maybe in mature males only), third spine longest and elongate, interspinous membranes deeply incised. No free pectoral-fin rays detected. Caudal fin rounded. Scales visible on dead specimens from reticulate pattern of pigmentation along scale edges, visibility on live specimens unknown.

Freshly dead coloration. Background coloration orange-beige, dark-brown or whitish, with orange markings dorsally, and 7 rectangular, orange midlateral blotches ( Fig. 59 ). Eyes with stripes radiating from the pupil to the orbital rim, including a broad horizontal stripe across the eye. One indistinct orange preorbital bar. Lips unmarked. Cheek and opercle orange, possibly smoked gray in some individuals, with numerous rounded white spots ( Fig. 59 ). On the anterior half of the first dorsal fin, an oblique, smokey gray blotch extending from the distal half of first spine to the base of fourth or fifth. Upper base of pectoral fins with an orange blotch ( Iglésias et al. 2021a).

Similar species. Gobius gasteveni , G. kolombatovici , Vanneaugobius dollfusi .

Habitat. Circalittoral species, recorded from deep coralline beds composed of fixed or unattached red algae, between 62 and 102 m depth ( Iglésias et al. 2021a).

Geographic distribution. Western Mediterranean, known from only three individuals collected in Corsica, off the French-Spanish continental border, and in the Balearic Island of Menorca ( Iglésias et al. 2021a).

Figures

FIGURE 59. Freshly dead coloration of Gobius xoriguer. Photo by S. Iglésias, off eastern Corsica, Southern France.