''Eviota guttata'', the spotted dwarfgoby, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Gobiidae, the "true gobies". It is found in the western Indian Ocean.

Description

''Eviota guttata'' has a total of 6–7 spines in its dorsal fins and a total of 8–9 soft rays. The

anal fin 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 se ...

has a single spine and 8-9 soft rays. It closely resembles ''

Eviota albolineata ''Eviota albolineata'', commonly called spotted fringefin goby or whitelined eviota among various other vernacular names, is a species of marine fish in the family Gobiidae. This species is restricted to the Society Islands, Line Islands and Tu ...

'' and its counts or measurements match closely. There are , however, distinct differences in colour, both in live and preserved specimens with this species having a dark spot on the underside of the head about in line with the rear part of the jaws and it also has a few scattered melanophores on the ventral side of the lower jaw near its tip, the intensity of the dark pigmentation varies, from just a few melanophores to a patch of very dark colour, this feature is absent in ''E. albolineata''. They grow to a total length of .

Distribution

''Eviota guttata'' was originally described from specimens taken in the Red Sea and the

Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ar, خليج عمان ''khalīj ʿumān''; fa, دریای عمان ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ar, خلیج مکران ''khalīj makrān''; fa, دریای مکرا� ...

, with the holotype being from an

Ethiopian Navy The Ethiopian Navy (), known as the Imperial Ethiopian Navy until 1974, was a branch of the Ethiopian National Defense Force founded in 1955. It was disestablished in 1996 after the independence of Eritrea in 1991 left Ethiopia landlocked. The ...

base,

Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak ...

, in modern

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

. It is now known to occur in the western Indian Ocean including the Maldives, Seychelles, Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Oman. Records from the Pacific are probably misidentifications of similar species of ''

Eviota ''Eviota'' is a genus of fish in the family Gobiidae, commonly as dwarfgobies found in the Indo- Pacific region, where it is distributed from Japan to Australia and from Africa to Pitcairn Island. Species are mainly associated with coral reefs ...

'' gobies, such as '' Eviota theresae'' in Fiji.

Biology

''Eviota guttata'' occurs in inshore areas near continental and island shores where it is associated with shallow reefs with a mixture of coral and algal growths. It can be found in water of less than in depth.

References

External links

* {{taxonbar, from=Q921665 guttata Vertebrates of the Arabian Peninsula Fish of the Comoros Fauna of the Maldives Fish of Seychelles Fauna of the Mascarene Islands Fish of the Red Sea Marine fish of East Africa Taxa named by Ernest A. Lachner Taxa named by Susan J. Karnella Fish described in 1978