Didogobius schlieweni Miller, 1993

Iglésias, Samuel P., Bariche, Michel, Beau, Florent, Bérenger, Lucas, Beucher, Renaud, Chabrolle, Antoine, Cottalorda, Jean-Michel, Cousin, Bertrand, Curd, Amelia, Danet, Valentin, Duhamel, Erwan, Duval, Audrey, Farque, Pierre-André, Goascoz, Nicolas, Jadaud, Angélique, Larnaud, Pascal, Bouter, Mathieu Le, Bras, Yvan Le, Bris, Sylvain Le, Lombard, Laurent, Louisy, Patrick, Mandine, Alain, Mas, Lise, Menut, Thomas, Metral, Luisa, Poussard, Pierre, Quéro, Jean-Claude, Raybaud, Virginie, Renoult, Julien P., Richard, Thomas, Spitz, Jérôme, Ternon, Quentin, Thiriet, Pierre & Tournier-Broer, Ruben, 2021, French ichthyological records for 2019, Cybium 45 (3), pp. 169-188 : 181

Didogobius schlieweni Miller, 1993

Six Andromeda gobies, Gobiidae , were observed while scuba diving at night along the Var and Bouches-du-Rhône coasts (Mediterranean Sea) during targeted excursions. A first individual was observed and photographed by I. Pon- cet on 31 May 2019, at the Cimentier wreck at Hyères (43.0075°N, 6.1603°E), at 12 m depth ( DORIS ). A second individual ( Fig. 7E ) was observed and photographed by A. Mandine on 26 Jun 2019, at Tiboulen de Maïre, off Marseille (43.2138°N, 5.3283°E), at 5 m depth. The individual measured about 4 cm TL ( Mandine et al., 2019). Four additional individuals ( Fig. 7 F-G) were observed and photographed by S. Le Bris, L. Bérenger and T. Menut on 02 and 19 Jul, 19 Aug and 19 Sep 2019, in the Saména cove in Marseille (43.2289°N, 5.3480°E), at 7-11 m depth. The habitat where these observations were made was mostly characterized by pebble screes or occasionally algal mats. The individuals measured about 4-5 cm TL. All observations were performed at night between 22:00 and 23: 30 p. m. ( Bérenger et al., 2019c; Le Bris et al., 2019d, 2019e; Menut et al., 2020). With only nine previous published records ( Kampouris et al., 2019) and some additional records on internet websites ( DORIS, Fishbase , Fish Watch Forum), the Andromeda goby is very uncommonly observed due to its small size, cryptobenthic habitat and mostly nocturnal activity, which makes its detection very difficult by scuba divers. The species was previously recorded four times in French waters in 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2016, off Banyuls-sur-Mer and Marseille ( Ballesta et al., 1998; Francour, 2008; Mandine et al., 2016).

Figures

Figure 7. – Significant French ichthyological records for 2019 (continued). A: Deltentosteus collonianus, ~6 cm TL, 15 Feb. 2019 (© S. Le Bris); B: D. collonianus, ~7 cm TL, 19 Feb. 2019 (© L. Bérenger); C: D. collonianus, ~6 cm TL, male, 27 Feb. 2019 (© S. Le Bris); D: Didogobius splechtnai, ~4 cm TL, 16 Jun 2019 (© S. Le Bris); E: D. schlieweni, ~4 cm TL, 26 Jun 2019 (© A. Mandine); F: D. schlieweni, ~5 cm TL, 19 Jul 2019 (© S. Le Bris); G: Didogobius schlieweni, ~4 cm TL, 19 Aug 2019 (© S. Le Bris).