Animal Species:Whitebarred Goby, Amblygobius phalaena (Valenciennes, 1837)

The Whitebarred Goby is greenish brown above and pale below. The species occurs in shallow marine waters of the Indo-Pacific.

Alternative Name/s

Banded Goby, Barred Goby, Brown-barred Goby, Dusky Barred Goby, Spotty-tail Goby, White-bar Goby, White-barred Goby, White-spotted Goby

Identification

The Whitebarred Goby is greenish brown above and pale below. It has dark bars on the body that are edged with light blue.There is a prominent ocellus on the first dorsal fin and a black spot at the upper caudal fin base.

Size range

It grows to 15 cm in length.

Distribution

The Whitebarred Goby is known from the Indo-Pacific. In Australia it occurs from south-western Western Australia, around the tropical north and south to central New South Wales.

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.

Amblygobius phalaena

Distribution by collection data

Ozcam map of Whitebarred Goby specimens in the Australian Museum.

What does this mean?

Habitat

The species is usually seen swimming just above the bottom in areas of sand, silt or sparse seagrass.

Classification

Species:
phalaena
Genus:
Amblygobius
Family:
Gobiidae
Order:
Perciformes
Class:
Actinopterygii
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Phylum:
Chordata
Kingdom:
Animalia

What does this mean?

References

  1. Hoese, D.F., Bray, D.J., Paxton, J.R. & G.R. Allen. 2006. Fishes. In Beesley, P.L. & A. Wells. (eds) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing: Australia. parts 1-3, pages 1-2178.
  2. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
  3. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.


Mark McGrouther , Collection Manager, Ichthyology
Last Updated:

Tags fishes, ichthyology, Whitebarred Goby, Amblygobius phalaena, Gobiidae, greenish brown, pale, long and skinny, 10 cm - 30 cm, stripes, spots, soft substrate (sand), seagrass, marine, dark bars on the body,