Sunday 28 August 2016

Periophthalmus pusing: A new species of Mudskipper from the Lesser Sunda Islands,

Mudskippers, Periophthalmus spp., are highly specialized Goby Fish, Gobiidae, are highly specialized amphibious Fish found across the tropical and sub-tropical Indo-Pacific and Eastern Atlantic Oceans. The Fish have eyes high on their heads, and modified pectoral girdles which enable them to move about on land, and are often seen foraging on mudflats and in Mangrove forests.

In a paper published in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology on 25 August 2016, Zeehan Jaafar of the Division of Fishes at the National Museum of Natural History and the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore, Gianluca Polgar of the Environmental and Life Sciences Programme at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam, and Yuliadi Zamroni of the Biology Study Programme at Mataram University, describe a new species of Mudskipper from Palau Sumba (Sumba Island) in the Lesser Sundas.

The new species is named Periophthalmus pusing, which derives from the local name for the species 'Ikan Pusing' ot 'Dizzy Fish'; the local people claim that eating the Mudskippers causes headaches and giddyness. The Fish were originally mistaken for members of another species, the widespread Periophthalmus gracilis, which they resemble very closely in size, morphology, colouration and markings, but careful examination revealed that the two species differ in the structure of their fins. As such Periophthalmus pusing is considered to be a cryptic species (cryptic species are species that closely resemble other species, and cannot be separated by simple, non-invasive examination); at the current time the species is known only from a single location, the Kawangu Mangrove Forest on Sumba Island, but it is quite possible that other known populations of Periophthalmus gracilis are in fact members of the new species.

Live specimen of Periophthalmus pusing, approximately 35 mm SL, collected in Sumba Island, Indonesia. Jaafar et al. (2016).

See also...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/a-new-species-of-freshwater-goby-from.htmlA new species of freshwater Goby from Sulawesi.                                                                      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...
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/a-new-species-of-goby-from-southwest.htmlA new species of Goby from the southwest Indian Ocean.                                           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...
http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/new-species-of-whitecap-shrimp-goby.htmlNew species of Whitecap Shrimp Goby from the Western Pacific.                                  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...
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