GOBIIDAE


Ctenogobiops crocineus, 4.1 cm SL
(photo by Ukkrit Satapoomin)


Ctenogobiops crocineus
Smith, 1959
Seychelles Shrimpgoby

D VI + I, 11-12; A I, 11; P1 18-19; LR 51-56; PDS 0.

Body elongate, compressed. Head slightly compressed; jaws extending posteriorly to a vertical through middle of eye; gill opening reaching anteriorly atound a vertical through posterior margin of eye. No elongate dorsal-fin spines. Pelvic fins united medially; frenum present. Scales ctenoid posteriorly, cycloid anteriorly; head, breast and pectoral-fin base naked. Sensory canals and pores present on head; reduced longitudinal pattern of sensory papillae on cheek; a pair of sensory papillae just behind chin. Color: ca 4 irregular horizontal rows of dark brown dotted and/or dashed lines on body (dashed line on mid-lateral body most distinct); two parallel oblique orange dashed-lines on cheek; pectoral fin with a bright white streak. Size: 5.0 cm SL. Distribution: Indo-West Pacific. Remarks: found in protected bays with sandy or sandy-mud bottoms and dead-coral rubbles; symbiotically associated with alpheid shrimps. Klausewitz (1960) and Randall et al. (2003) misidentified C. crocineus as the junior synonym of Ctenogobiops maculosus (Fourmanoir, 1955), having greatly elongate and filamentous second spine of first dorsal fin (its length 38.7% SL in the holotype) and restricted gill opening (not extending anteriorly to a vertical through rear edge of eye).