Pleurosicya mossambica
Many-host Ghost Goby
©Lyle Vail: Pleurosicya mossambica (tentative id) on a holothurian off Lizard Head, Lizard Island, away from base of reef slope in about 21 metres depth.
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Perciformes
Family
Gobiidae
Genus
Pleurosicya
Species
Pleurosicya mossambica
Colours
Distinguishing features
Highly variable in colour, found on a variety of organisms. Nape scaled, a dark blotch on base of first dorsal fin (Larson, 1990). Allan and Erdmann (2012) do not mention a dark blotch.
Size
- Up to 2.5 cm (length according to Allen and Erdmann (2012).)
Depth range
- Depth range data is not yet available.
Synonyms
Comments
Allen and Erdmann (2012) note that this species is highly variable in colour and associates with a wide variety of organisms.
by Anne Hoggett
Distribution
©Atlas of Living Australia: Australian distribution
Web resources
References
References that assist with identification
- Allen and M.V. Erdmann, G.R. (2012). Reef fishes of the East Indies. Volumes I-III in: Reef fishes of the East Indies. Tropical Reef Research, Perth, Australia. LIRS catalog number 90162.
- Larson, H.K. (1990). A revision of the commensal gobiid fish genera Pleurosicya and Luposicya (Gobiidae), with descriptions of eight new species of Pleurosicya and discussion of related genera. The Beagle, Records of the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences, 7(1): 1-53. LIRS catalog number LIRS 337.
Other references
- Leis, J.M., B.M. Carson-Ewart and J. Webley (2002). Settlement behaviour of coral-reef fish larvae at subsurface artificial-reef moorings, Marine and Freshwater Research, 53: 319-327. LIRS catalog number 720.