Animal Species:Hoese's Sandgoby, Istigobius hoesei Murdy & McEachran, 1982

Hoese's Sandgoby is a small marine species that is only known from Australia.  It was named in honour of Australian Museum ichthyologist Dr Doug Hoese.

Hoese's Sandgoby, Istigobius hoesei

Hoese's Sandgoby, Istigobius hoesei
Erik Schlögl © Erik Schlögl

Alternative Name/s

Sloth Goby

Identification

Hoese's Sandgoby can be recognised by its raised eyes, elongate body, and pale sandy to pink colour with dots and dashes. It often has blackish lips. Like most gobies, it has pelvic fins fused into a cup-shaped disc.

Size range

Hoese's Sandgoby grows to 10 cm in length.

Distribution

The species is endemic to Australia, occurring from the central Queensland coast and the central New South Wales coast south to Sydney.

The map below shows the Australian distribution of the species based on public sightings and specimens in Australian Museums. Click on the map for detailed information.  Source: Atlas of Living Australia.

Istigobius hoesei

Distribution by collection data

Ozcam map of Hoese's Sandgoby specimens in the Australian Museum.

What does this mean?

Habitat

It lives in protected bays and estuaries in depths from 3 m to 20 m.

Classification

Species:
hoesei
Genus:
Istigobius
Family:
Gobiidae
Order:
Perciformes
Class:
Actinopterygii
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  1. Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Crawford House Press. Pp. 437.
  2. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags fishes, ichthyology, Hoese's Sandgoby, Istigobius hoesei, Gobiidae, brown, white, yellow, odd-shaped, < 10 cm, blotches/mottled, adult,