''Elacatinus figaro'', the barber goby or yellow line goby, is a colourful species of marine goby, family

Gobiidae Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than in length, and the ...

, from the southwestern Atlantic, where it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the coastal waters of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Description

''E. figaro'' is dark in colour with yellow ventral and dorsal stripes and opaque blue

pectoral fins Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as see ...

. It has a terminal mouth and the

pelvic fins Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two e ...

are merged to form a suction cup. They are normally 2.5-3.4 cm in length.

Distribution

The barber goby is endemic to the waters off Brazil, where it occurs from Santa Catarina in the south to Pedra do Sal in Piauí in the north.

Biology

''E. figaro'' is found over substrates made up of coral and rocky either just off the coast of mainland Brazil or off inshore islands at depths of 3–20 m. It occurs either solitarily or in small groups of up to six fish over coral heads, among encrusting algae and crustose sponges, or in the vicinity of sea urchins, retreating to seek protection among the spines if threatened. It feeds mainly by cleaning other fish, e.g. ''

Ophioblennius atlanticus ''Ophioblennius atlanticus'', also known as the redlip blenny and the horseface blenny, is a species of combtooth blenny, family Blenniidae, found primarily in the western central Atlantic ocean. Redlip blennies can be found in coral crests and ...

'', ''

Abudefduf saxatilis The sergeant major or píntano (''Abudefduf saxatilis'') is a species of damselfish. It grows to a maximum length of about . Distribution and habitat ''Abudefduf saxatilis'' is found in the Atlantic Ocean. Populations in the western part of the ...

'', '' Mycteroperca rubra'', and '' Mycteroperca acutirostris''.

Conservation

The Ministério do Meio Ambiente Red List of Brazilian Fauna published in 2014 lists ''E.s figaro'' as a threatened species, and recommends that it fits the vulnerable category of

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

IUCN Red List of Endangered Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

. The export of ''E. figaro'' from Brazil is illegal, which means that captive-bred specimens are the only ones which can be legally sold within the aquarium trade.

Naming

The generic name ''Elacatinus'' is from Greek ''elakatines'' which means fusiform fishes preserved in salt, while the specific name ''figaro'' references

Pierre Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist, ...

's title character in the play

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based ...

. The type specimen was taken at Pedra Do Navio, Ilha Anchieta,

Ubatuba Ubatuba is a Brazilian municipality, located on the southeast coast, in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 92,819 (2021 est.) in an area of 723.88 km², of whi ...

Sao Paulo SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U ...

by I. Sazima, R. Moura and C. Sazima, and the description was published in April 1997 in ''Aqua: Journal of Ichthyology and Aquatic Biology'' Volume 5, Issue 3, pp 33–38.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2139403

Fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

Endemic fauna of Brazil Fish of Brazil Marine fauna of South America Fish described in 1997