Didogobius splechtnai Ahnelt & Patzner, 1995

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 : 52

Didogobius splechtnai Ahnelt & Patzner, 1995 ( Fig. 14 )—Splechtna’s Goby

Didogobius splechtnai Ahnelt & Patzner, 1995: 97 ; type locality: western Mediterranean Sea, Spain, Balearic Islands, Ibiza Island, Near Portinatx .

Size. Maximum published size 2.8 cm total length ( Ahnelt & Patzner 1995).

Morphology. D VI + I,9–10; A I,9; P 13–16 ( Ahnelt & Patzner 1995; Francour 2008). Small goby with stocky body, large depressed head and a gently sloping snout. Caudal peduncle deep, almost as deep as body. The first dorsal fin higher than the second, its first spine longest, giving the fin a triangular shape. Caudal fin rounded. Scales visible on body from reticulate pigmentation pattern along scale edges.

Live coloration. Body mostly dark brown with 3 moderately broad whitish to pale grayish bars extending onto ventral half of body, the first bar immediately in front of the first dorsal fin and extending onto ventral half of pectoral fins, plus a very thin one at the base of caudal fin ( Fig. 14 ). First dorsal fin colored like adjacent body, with scattered white flecks and streaks, outer membrane between first two spines white ( Louisy 2015, Patzner 2021).

Similar species. Gammogobius steinitzi .

Habitat. Infralittoral to circalittoral species, known from depth of 4– 56 m. Present in small cavities in innermost parts of large marine caves and in small bottom caves and cavities. Mostly found lying on the soft sediment in recesses, ready to dive into a nearby hole or crevice (summarized by Francour 2008).

Geographic distribution. Mediterranean, there are records from the northwestern Mediterranean ( Ahnelt & Patzner 1995; Francour 2008; Iglésias et al. 2021b), Lampedusa (Stefanni 1999) and Adriatic Sea ( Herler & Patzner 2002; Kovačić 2005). A record from Turkey, Aegean Sea (Francour et al. 2007), seems probable but was not substantiated by specimens or photos, later confirmed by Ragkousis et al. (2021) for Aegean Sea.

Figures

FIGURE 14. Live coloration in its natural habitat of Didogobius splechtnai. Photo by A. Pagano, Sicily, Italy.