Gouania hofrichteri Wagner, Kovačić & Koblmüller, 2020
Hofrichter's clingfish

Family:  Gobiesocidae (Clingfishes and singleslits), subfamily: Lepadogastrinae
Max. size:  3.69 cm SL (male/unsexed)
Environment:  demersal; marine
Distribution:  Mediterranean Sea: widespread.
Diagnosis:  This species is distinguished from its congeners by the following set of characters: dorsal head profile 'S' curved in lateral view, concave above eye and convex at nape; posterior angle of jaws extends to between vertical line drawn through posterior edge of anterior nostril and vertical line drawn through anterior edge of eye; infraorbital invagination below anterior half of eye or below mideye; posterior opercular edge with pointed upper tip and a rounded lower edge; longitudinal infralateral and suborbital transversal rows of superficial neuromasts in a shallow groove disappearing in posterior part of longitudinal infralateral row; cross-section of body behind pectoral fin base triangular with ventral flat and dorsal pointed; body granules large and prominent, at least on posterior part and nape; upper attachment of gill membrane opposite to 3rd-4th pectoral ray; vertical eye diameter 2.0-2.7% of SL; head length 18.9-23.4% of SL; pectoral-fin length 5.4-6.4% of SL; pre-pectoral distance 19.5-23.7% of SL; ventral adhesive disc length 10.2-13.4% of SL; caudal-fin length 11.5-13.4% of SL; high total number of vertebrae 38-40; pharyngeal jaws with ceratobranchial 5 elongated, having several larger elongated conical teeth; nasal bones hook-shaped; no star-like pigmentation around eyes, body pigmentation striped or marbled, small iridophores visible (Ref. 123696).
Biology:  The species inhabits intertidal pebble beaches and probably shows passive emergence behaviour. It occurs in sympatry with G. orientalis throughout its distribution and on the island Corfu with G. adriatica (Ref. 123696).
IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless


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