Noronha cleaner goby (Elacatinus phthirophagus)

Scientific name: Elacatinus phthirophagus Sazima, Carvalho-Filho & Sazima, 2008

Noronha cleaner goby (Elacatinus phthirophagus)

The Noronha cleaner goby (Elacatinus phthirophagus) is a marine fish of the family Gobiidae. Native range: Atlantic Ocean, Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, a volcanic formation off NE Brazil, tropical Southwestern Atlantic.

Biology

Dorsal spines (total): 7; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-11; Anal soft rays: 11; Vertebrae: 18. Elacatinus phthirophagus differs from its congeners of the putative ?randalli-evelynae? cleaning clade (sensu Taylor & Hellberg 2005) by the following combination of characters: mouth subterminal, pale (bright yellow in life) elliptical spot on dark snout, width of lateral pale (bright yellow in life) stripe almost equal as eye diameter (slightly narrower in live individuals), light purplish sheen (in life) extending laterally from below eye to tail origin, no blue line (in life) from below eye to end of opercular margin, teeth multiserial on the distal portion of both jaws, males with 3 enlarged and recurved teeth on dentary inner row. Body naked, elongate and slightly laterally compressed. Mouth subterminal, U-shaped. Teeth conical and slightly curved on both jaws. Color pattern: bright yellow postocular stripe extending to the middle of caudal-fin

Source: FishBase, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

Species facts

Scientific name
Elacatinus phthirophagus
Family
Gobiidae (Gobies)
Order
Perciformes (Perch-like fish)
Class
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned fishes)
Maximum length
3.2
Depth range
3–18 m (10–59 ft)
Environment
Marine; benthopelagic; depth range 3 - 18 m
Climate
Tropical
Distribution
Atlantic Ocean: Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, a volcanic formation off NE Brazil, tropical Southwestern Atlantic.
Conservation status (IUCN)
Not Evaluated
Threat to humans
Harmless
Uses
Fisheries:
Resilience
High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.)

Sources

Taxonomy, distribution and biology data: FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds.), licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.

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