The sleepy goby (''Psammogobius biocellatus'') is a species of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

in the family Gobiidae.

Description

''Psammogobius biocellatus'' is a goby which varies in colour from dark brown to blackish, marked with rows of small black spots along its flanks and 2-3 dark blotches along the back and upper flanks. There is a dark band on the first

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

with more dark bands on the lower part of the

caudal 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 ...

and narrow bands on the

pelvic fin 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 en ...

s. It attains a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of .

Distribution

''Psammogobius biocellatus'' is a widespread species and is distributed East Africa and through the Western Indian Ocean and the Pacific as far east as Fiji and Samoa, north to Japan and south to Australia.

Habitat and biology

The sleepy goby occurs in the intertidal zone in estuaries, lagoons and coastal rivers, often amongst mangroves where it burrowing into the silty-sand substrate, it may also be found in the lower reaches of freshwater streams. It buries itself in the sand.

References

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fish described in 1837 Sleeper goby {{Gobiidae-stub