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Species: Coryphopterus personatus, Masked Goby, Masked Sand-goby

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lower part of eye white
dark face mask
base of pectoral with horizontal white bar

Coryphopterus personatus (Jordan & Thompson, 1905)

Masked Goby, Masked Sand-goby

Head profile slightly rounded; a low fleshy crest along midline of head; head pores present, 1 large pore between center of front of eyes, 1 central pore just behind eyes; a pair between rear nostril; papillae on cheek in horizontal rows; eye large; tongue straight ended; gill membranes broadly joined to body under throat, with 5 rays; dorsal fin VI (second spine elongate) + I, 10 (9-10); length of 2nd dorsal base > distance from 2nd dorsal base to tail fin; anal fin I, 10 (10-11); pectoral fin 15 (14-16); pelvic fins I, 5, all rays branched, fins mostly separate with a reduced front membrane; body covered with scales, scales large, rough, absent from head, 26 (24-28) in lateral series; no lateral line.

Head and body translucent, body without dark cross-hatching at scale edges and pepper spots; snout dark; a dark stripe from snout through eye; side of head and nape orange; ar row of ~8 elongate white dashes along spine from eye to tail base, those separated by orange blotches; no thin dark line under that row of orange and white blotches; no dark dots above anal fin and under dorsal fin; a black ring around anus; genital papilla not black, but may be speckled.

Reaches: 4 cm.

Habitat: Hovers above bottom in caves and shaded areas in reefs.

Depth: 2-73 m.

Bermuda to the S Caribbean.

Note: difficult to distinguish from C. hyalinus


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Salinity
  • Marine
  • Marine Only
Inshore/Offshore
  • Inshore
  • Inshore Only
Water Column Position
  • Bottom
  • Bottom + water column
  • Near Bottom
Habitat
  • Reef only
  • Rocks
  • Water column
  • Corals
  • Reef (rock/coral/oyster)
  • Reef associated (reef + edges-water column & soft bottom)
FishBase Habitat
  • Reef Associated
Feeding Group
  • Data
  • Planktivore
Diet
  • Data
  • Zooplankton
Egg Type
  • Benthic
  • Data
  • Pelagic larva
Global Endemism
  • All species
  • Greater Caribbean endemic
  • West Atlantic Endemic
Regional Endemism
  • Continent
  • Continent + Island (s)
  • Continental primarily
  • GC endemic
  • Island (s)
  • All species
Residency
  • Resident
Climate Zone
  • Equatorial (0-10N, Costa Rica / Venezuela)
  • Subtropical (23-35N, Florida / Carolinas / Bermuda)
  • Tropical (10-23N, Nicaragua / Cuba)
IUCN Red List
  • Listed
  • Vulnerable
CITES
  • Not listed
Length Max
  • 4
Depth Range Min
  • 2
Depth Range Max
  • 73