Trypauchen vagina ( Bloch & Schneider, 1801 )

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 : 87

Trypauchen vagina ( Bloch & Schneider, 1801) ( Fig. 1 )—Pink Worm Goby

Gobius vagina Bloch & Schneider, 1801: 73 ; type locality: India, Tranquebar [ Tharangambadi] .

Size. Reaches 23 cm total length.

Morphology. D VI, 40–50; A39–47; P 15–20. Body very elongate and laterally compressed. A pouch-like cavity just above operculum. Head laterally compressed with reduced eyes. Dorsal and anal fins low, long and confluent with caudal fin. Pelvic fins fused medially, but connecting membrane between innermost rays emarginated posteriorly ( Murdy 2006). Scales on body cycloid, no scales on head. Scales small, visible on body and predorsal area as pattern of pale dots.

Fresh coloration. Head and body entirely reddish or pinkish red ( Fig. 1a ).

Similar species. None of Mediterranean Gobiidae .

Habitat. Inhabits muddy or silty sand bottom in bays and brackish estuaries at depths of 10–90 m ( Murdy 2006; Ergüden et al. 2018).

Geographic distribution. Recorded from the Arabian Gulf east to Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines, unknown from the Red Sea. In the Mediterranean it has been collected in Israel ( Salameh et al. 2010) and Turkey ( Ergüden et al. 2018).

Figures

FIGURE 1. A) Freshly dead coloration of Trypauchen vagina. Photo by D. Darom, trawled between Hadera and Atlit, Israel. B) Photo of Trypauchen sp. alive, photo by C. Telford, Thailand.