Gobius vittatus Vinciguerra, 1883

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 : 65

Gobius vittatus Vinciguerra, 1883 ( Fig. 10 )—Striped Goby

Gobius vittatus Vinciguerra, 1883: 527 , type locality: western Mediterranean Sea, Italy, Sardinia, Isola Tavolara .

Size. Known adult size about 4–5 cm total length.

Morphology. D VI + I,11–13; A I,11–13; P 15–18. Short and stout body, nearly cylindrical, except for laterally compressed caudal peduncle (Kovačić 2006). Caudal peduncle slender, lower than body. Dorsal fins of similar height, the first with a more or less rounded edge. Caudal fin truncate to slightly emarginate. Body and predorsal area covered with scales (Miller 1986), usually poorly visible on live specimen photographs ( Fig. 10 ).

Live coloration. Background coloration pale to white, light yellow or beige, with a broad, dark-chestnut to black stripe between the upper lip and snout and the caudal fin, passing through the eyes ( Fig. 10 ). The lateral stripes of both sides meet above the upper lip, forming a V-shaped snout line that slightly extends onto mid upper lip ( Fig. 10 ). Fins mostly clear and unmarked, yet often with a light pink hue on the rays and membranes ( Fig. 10 ) ( Heymer & Zander 1978).

Similar species. Tridentriger trigonocephalus , also the blenny Parablennius rouxi .

Habitat. Infralittoral and circalittoral species, known from 2–85 m depth ( Francour et al. 2010), most frequent between 15–40 m depth, on steep to moderate rocky slopes made of boulders or coralligenous beds ( Heymer & Zander 1978), more rarely on sand ( Kovačić 2004; Kovačić & Arko-Pijevac 2008).

Geographic distribution. Northern Mediterranean, presently known from the Strait of Gibraltar in Spain to Leghorn in Italy, in the Gulf of Taranto and the Gargano Peninsula ( Italy), Eastern Adriatic, the Aegean Sea (Miller 1986). Also recorded from Crete (Kovačić et al. 2011).

Figures

FIGURE 10. Live coloration in its natural habitat of Gobius vittatus. Photo by S.V. Bogorodsky, Turkey, Aegean Sea.