Gobies are small, benthic (bottom
dwelling) members of the Perch Order, found in marine and freshwater
environments around the world, but most numerous and diverse in the
Indo-Pacific region. There are large numbers of highly endemic (i.e. found over
only a very small area) species in the ancient lakes of Indonesia and Malaysia.
In a paper published in the
Raffles Bulletin of Zoology on 5 November 2014, Helen Larson of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and School of Marine and Tropical Biology
at James Cook University, Matthias Geiger of the Sektion Ichthyologie at the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Renny Kurnia Hadiaty of the Research Center for Biology of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and Fabian Herder, also of the Sektion Ichthyologie at the Zoologisches
Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, describe a new species of freshwater Goby from Lake Towuti in central Sulawesi.
The new species is placed in the
genus Mugilogobius and given the
specific name hitam, meaning ‘black’
in Bahasa Indonesia. The species is described from eight specimens, all
collected from warm shallow (less than 2 m) waters in Lake Towuti in central
Sulawesi. The specimens ranged from 25.6 to 42.5 mm in length, and were black
or blackish brown in colour, with some reddish areas on the head and pectoral,
caudal and anal fins.
Mugilogobius hitam, captive
specimen. Hans-Georg Evers in Larson et
al. (2014).
Mugilogobius hitam was found to breed very readily in captivity,
depositing eggs on hard substrates and guarding them; Larson et al. were not able to successfully
rear any captive bred specimens to maturity, though they did find evidence that
the species was being traded in the aquarium trade in Europe under the name ‘Mugilogobius amadi’, implying that
either it is being bred in captivity or else collected from the wild for sale
in Europe.
Map of the Malili Lakes in Sulawesi. The locality where Mugilogobius hitam was discovered is
denoted by an asterisk. Larson et al.
(2014).
See also…
Gobies are small, elongate Fish related to Perches. They are a highly successful group with other 2000 species and are found across the globe. There are both marine and freshwater Gobies, as well as one group, the Mudskippers, that can survive out of water for...
Gobies are small, elongate Fish related to Perches. They are a highly successful group with other 2000 species and are found across the globe. There are both...
Japanese Gobies of the genus Clariger are small eel-like fish in the Goby Family (Gobiidae) noted for their...
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