''Corcyrogobius'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
gobies native to the eastern
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
and the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
.
Species
There are currently three recognized species in this genus:
* ''
Corcyrogobius liechtensteini
''Corcyrogobius'' is a genus of gobies native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Species
There are currently three recognized species in this genus:
* '' Corcyrogobius liechtensteini'' ( Kolombatović, 1891) (Liechtenstein ...
''
( Kolombatović, 1891) (Liechtenstein's goby)
* ''
Corcyrogobius lubbocki''
P. J. Miller, 1988
* ''
Corcyrogobius pulcher''
Kovačić et al., 2020
Discovery and naming
The first species of the genus ''Corcyrogobius'' was first described by the Croatian zoologist Juraj Kolombatović in 1891, based on twelve specimen he collected off the coast of
Korcula, an
adria
Adria is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Rovigo in the Veneto region of northern Italy, situated between the mouths of the rivers Adige and Po River, Po. The remains of the Etruria, Etruscan city of Atria or Hatria are to be found below ...
tic island now belonging to
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
. He first described this new species as ''Gobius liechtensteini''. In 1972, Peter J. Miller, a British ichthyologist, recognized four of the original twelve specimen, which Kolombatović had supposed to be juvenile stages of the species lifecycle, to actually belong to a different species, ''Odondebuenia balearica''. Miller redescribed the species, based on the remaining eight specimen, under the name ''Corcyrogobius liechtensteini'', meaning "Liechtenstein's goby from
Korcula".
In 1988, the very same Peter J. Miller discovered two older samples of gobiids collected for the British Museum of Natural History off the coast of
Annobon,
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
, in 1927, to belong to the same genus of ''Corcyrogobius''. Matching the traits with specimen collected in 1976 in
Prampram
Prampram is a coastal town in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The town is located in the Ningo Prampram District.
Prampram (Gbugbla), the capital of Ningo-Prampram, is 15 minutes' drive from the port city of Tema and 45 minutes from Accra, the ...
,
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, he described another species: ''Corcyrogobius lubbocki'', meaning Lubbock's goby from Korcula.
Lastly, in 2020, an ichthyological expedition to the
Île de Ngor off the coast of
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
recovered two specimen of another ''Corcyrogobius'' species. ''Corcyrogobius pulcher'', meaning "Beautiful goby from Korcula", was genetically analysed and placed in the genus' phylogenetic tree as the outgroup to the more closely related species ''C. lubbocki'' and ''C. liechtensteini''.
[Kovacic, Marcelo; Wirtz, Peter; Schliewen, Ulrich K. (2020): A new species of Corcyrogobius (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from Île de Ngor, Senegal. Zootaxa, 4834(1), pp.zootaxa-4834.]
References
Gobiidae
{{Gobiidae-stub