Sylvain Le Bris, Frankreich
Info
History:
The two specimens on which this description is based come from the collections of the Institut Scientifique ChCrifien in Rabat, Morocco.
They were both caught on August 28, 1926, off Agadir, Morocco, using a dredge.
The larger specimen (27.3 mm + 8.0 mm), designated as the holotype, was caught at a depth of 110 meters at the Vanneau CXXVIP station (30°25'40“N 9°52'40”W) and originally identified by Dollfus as Eleotris pruvoti.
The smaller specimen (23.6 mm + d) was caught at a depth of 115 meters at the Vanneau station CXXVIII (30'27'50“N 9'57'40”W) and identified as Eleotris balearicus (now Pteria hirundo) and Odondebuenia balearica.
Considering their age and the method of capture, both specimens are in remarkably good condition.
The two known specimens were caught with a dredge, and the same trawls landed the ahermatypical coral Dendrophyllia, the mussel Avicula hirundo (now Pteria hirundo), the sea lilies Antedon, and the gorgonians Paramuricea placomus, Leptogorgia sarmentosa, and Eunicella verrucosa.
Etymology:
The species name “dollfusi” was chosen in honor of the eminent parasitologist Dr. Robert Ph. Dollfus, who, together with Dr. Jacques Liouville, organized the Vanneau expeditions along the Moroccan Atlantic coast between 1923 and 1926. His checklist of Moroccan Atlantic fish (1955) was very helpful to later researchers in this field.
The genus name “Vanneaugobius” is derived from the ship S.S. Vanneau, from which the two known specimens originate.
Habitat:
The seabed consists of glauconite sand with rocky outcrops. Vanneaugobius dollfusi belongs to the coral biocenoses of the Atlantic coast of North Africa and most likely also of the Mediterranean.
Habitat:
The colorful goby (especially the males) has been found in several habitats with different types of substrate:
along deep rock or coral walls,
on more or less muddy sand
in deep algae beds,
on sand, mud with shell remains
on glauconite-rich sand with rocky outcrops
on maërl
Brief description
The head and body of the goby are gray with pale orange, reddish, rarely pink spots and speckles or indistinct stripes of the same colors on a paler background, which sometimes fade depending on the environment and mood of the fish.
The head is mostly orange with irregular pale markings or speckles, and the tubular front nostrils are white.
There are usually 8–9 light-colored areas along the back (from the neck to the tail stalk), which sometimes become small white saddles.
A series of typical short pearly white stripes are arranged in 3–5 pairs on the lower body (depending on how visible they are), usually interrupted by orange-colored elongated spots in the middle of the sides.
The first dorsal fin is translucent with orange-red dots along the spines.
Sometimes an elongated dark spot can be seen at the front base of the first dorsal fin, but this is not always visible; this dark spot on the first dorsal fin is present in both sexes, but seems to appear more frequently in females.
Vanneaugobius dollfusi is often observed together with Gobius kolombatovici and Thorogobius macrolepis.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to French diver and underwater photographer Sylvain Le Bris for his brilliant photos of Vanneaugobius dollfusi.
The two specimens on which this description is based come from the collections of the Institut Scientifique ChCrifien in Rabat, Morocco.
They were both caught on August 28, 1926, off Agadir, Morocco, using a dredge.
The larger specimen (27.3 mm + 8.0 mm), designated as the holotype, was caught at a depth of 110 meters at the Vanneau CXXVIP station (30°25'40“N 9°52'40”W) and originally identified by Dollfus as Eleotris pruvoti.
The smaller specimen (23.6 mm + d) was caught at a depth of 115 meters at the Vanneau station CXXVIII (30'27'50“N 9'57'40”W) and identified as Eleotris balearicus (now Pteria hirundo) and Odondebuenia balearica.
Considering their age and the method of capture, both specimens are in remarkably good condition.
The two known specimens were caught with a dredge, and the same trawls landed the ahermatypical coral Dendrophyllia, the mussel Avicula hirundo (now Pteria hirundo), the sea lilies Antedon, and the gorgonians Paramuricea placomus, Leptogorgia sarmentosa, and Eunicella verrucosa.
Etymology:
The species name “dollfusi” was chosen in honor of the eminent parasitologist Dr. Robert Ph. Dollfus, who, together with Dr. Jacques Liouville, organized the Vanneau expeditions along the Moroccan Atlantic coast between 1923 and 1926. His checklist of Moroccan Atlantic fish (1955) was very helpful to later researchers in this field.
The genus name “Vanneaugobius” is derived from the ship S.S. Vanneau, from which the two known specimens originate.
Habitat:
The seabed consists of glauconite sand with rocky outcrops. Vanneaugobius dollfusi belongs to the coral biocenoses of the Atlantic coast of North Africa and most likely also of the Mediterranean.
Habitat:
The colorful goby (especially the males) has been found in several habitats with different types of substrate:
along deep rock or coral walls,
on more or less muddy sand
in deep algae beds,
on sand, mud with shell remains
on glauconite-rich sand with rocky outcrops
on maërl
Brief description
The head and body of the goby are gray with pale orange, reddish, rarely pink spots and speckles or indistinct stripes of the same colors on a paler background, which sometimes fade depending on the environment and mood of the fish.
The head is mostly orange with irregular pale markings or speckles, and the tubular front nostrils are white.
There are usually 8–9 light-colored areas along the back (from the neck to the tail stalk), which sometimes become small white saddles.
A series of typical short pearly white stripes are arranged in 3–5 pairs on the lower body (depending on how visible they are), usually interrupted by orange-colored elongated spots in the middle of the sides.
The first dorsal fin is translucent with orange-red dots along the spines.
Sometimes an elongated dark spot can be seen at the front base of the first dorsal fin, but this is not always visible; this dark spot on the first dorsal fin is present in both sexes, but seems to appear more frequently in females.
Vanneaugobius dollfusi is often observed together with Gobius kolombatovici and Thorogobius macrolepis.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to French diver and underwater photographer Sylvain Le Bris for his brilliant photos of Vanneaugobius dollfusi.
