Gobiodon bicalvolineatus and cobenjaminsis are Two New Species of Coral Goby from Papua New Guinea
Two new species of cryptic coral-dwelling goby have been described from Papua New Guinea. G. bicalvolineatus has a light blue-green base colouration with red vertical bars on the face, red spots and lighter diagonal bars on the dorsal surface of the head, and thin unbroken horizontal lines along the length of the body. It has only been recorded inhabiting Acropora caroliniana in the Bootless Bay area of PNG.
Gobiodon cobenjaminsis is light orange-brown in colour with pale vertical bars on the face, black edges on all fins except pectoral fins, and a black spot on the upper opercular margin. It has been recorded inhabiting Acropora elseyi in the Kimbe Bay area of PNG. The two new species were known previously as Gobiodon sp. B and Gobiodon sp. C respectively and will now also have the common names of the Speckle-Lined Coral Goby and the Russet Coral Goby.
Coral gobies are small, obligate coral-dwelling reef fishes, belonging to the second most speciose family of vertebrates; Gobiidae. There are 29 current species within the genus Gobiodon. The paper’s authors also provide new information on the South Pacific Ocean population of the recently described G. spadix, and a revised description of the genus Gobiodon.
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Courtney A. Hildebrandt, Catheline Y. M. Froehlich, Ole B. Brodnicke, O. Selma Klanten, Peter R. Møller & Marian Y. L. Wong, Two new species of 𝐺𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑛 (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from the Indo-Pacific, with notes on South Pacific and Indian Ocean populations of 𝐺𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑑𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑥. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 72: 488–510, 17th December 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26107/RBZ-2024-0036
