GOBIIDAE


Apocryptodon madurensis, 5.7 cm SL
(photo by Ukkrit Satapoomin)


Apocryptodon madurensis
(Bleeker, 1849)
Peppered Mudskipper

D VI + 21-24; A 21-23; P1 21-23; LR 47-57; PDS 19-27.

Body moderately elongate and compressed. Head compressed; snout rounded; gape near horizontal; jaws extending well beyond a vertical through posterior margin of eye; gill opening not extending anteriorly to a vertical line through posterior margin of preopercle; tongue adnated to floor of buccal cavity; uniserial row of teeth on each jaws, in addition to a single enlarged canine-like teeth internal to anterior margin of lower jaw. Pelvic fins united medially; frenum present. Cycloid scales on head and body; snout, interorbital region, lips, ventral surface of head, and pectoralfin base naked. Sensory canals and pores present on head; short transverse rows of sensory papillae below eye. Color: head and body beige dorsally, pale gray or white ventrally; a series of five rounded dark gray blotches on midlateral body; numerous jet black dots scattered on dorsal part of head and body. Size: 7.1 cm SL. Distribution: Indo-West Pacific. Remarks: found in protected bays and estuaries with soft mud bottom.