''Elacatinus horsti'', the yellowline goby, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

goby Goby is a common name for many species of small to medium sized ray-finned fish, normally with large heads and tapered bodies, which are found in marine, brackish and freshwater environments. Traditionally most of the species called gobies have b ...

native to the western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Description

The yellowline goby grows to be in length. It has a rounded snout and a long, slim body. The upper parts are black and the underside is grey, gradually paling to white. Some fish have a bright, yellow stripes running along each side from the eye to the tail, with often a yellow spot or short line on the snout. In juvenile fish, this stripe is shorter and extends just beyond the base of the pectoral fin. Young '' Elacatinus chancei'' is very similar in appearance, but in that species, the yellow line hardly reaches the pectoral fin. In another form of the fish, the stripe is white, paling to a bluish-grey colour beyond the pectoral fin. The dorsal fin is in two parts, and has seven spines and 11 to 12 soft rays. The pectoral fin then has 18 rays and the anal fin has a single spine and 10 soft rays.

Distribution

The yellowline goby is found on the Gulf Coast of the United States, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas, Curaçao, and Panama. It is found on reefs at depths between .

Biology

The yellowline goby is always found living in association with a tubular sponge such as '' Verongia aerophoba'' or a massive sponge such as '' Neofibularia nolitangere'' and feeding on the parasitic worms '' Haplosyllis spongicola'' that live in large numbers on these sponges. It also eats other invertebrates that live on the seabed and plankton.

Name

The specific name honours the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

Cornelius van der Horst (1889-1951), who collected the type while staying on Curacao in 1920.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2518255 horsti Fish of the Atlantic Ocean Fish of the Caribbean Fish of the Lesser Antilles Fish described in 1922